


The Girl from Nowhere

by orphan_account



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-16 09:25:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 62,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8096728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: I couldn't stand the thought of Clarke alone, so I found her someone else, don't hate!  I'll miss Lexa too.  But Clarke is too awesome to be alone. This takes place 6 months after Lexa's death, there's no a.l.i.e, no city of light, no impending nuclear doom, but we have nightblood and the flame.    First time writing, so it very well may suck, but don't worry, I won't quit my day job.   Feel free to comment.





	1. Chapter 1

Andes had been following the ice warriors and their blonde captive for a few days now, observing them from the tree tops. Their captive must have been very important, since they were avoiding all the normal travel routes, going out of their way to get back to their territory. That’s how Andes stumbled upon them, they passed close to her home, which was deep in the forest, and not many ventured through there. The prisoner appeared to be Skaikru, judging by the way she was dressed. There were about ten warriors escorting one girl. She was important. Andes hated the ice nation, and she loved to torment them whenever she had the chance, and she was going to love taking this prize from them.

They were now deep into Azgeda territory, getting closer to their capital. They appeared to be stopping and setting up camp. More warriors joined them. Andes left her position up high, and moved to the lower branches so she could hear what was going on. She was covered in mud, dirt, and war paint, whatever she could throw together so she could blend in. The only thing you could see were the whites of her eyes.

Andes observed them as they tied the blonde up to a tree and then milled about waiting for something or someone. And that someone showed up about an hour later. Danko, brother of Roan, son of Nia, current Ice King, murderer, and torturer, one of the most feared warriors in the land. Nobody knows what happened to Roan, suddenly Danko was there, and Roan was not. It didn’t take much imagination to figure that one out. Danko rode up with his guards. He dismounted and immediately went to the prisoner.

“Clarke, kom skaikru, welcome to Azgeda.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“I am Danko, King of Azgeda.” He bowed before her, acting like a gentleman. Andes wanted to run him through with her sword.

“Where’s Roan?”

“Roan,” he paused, more for affect, “Roan is no longer with us. “

Clarke stared back at the large man in front of her. His eyes were black as coal, and his hair was long and tied back. His mouth was cruel.  
“You’re violating the coalition. This will be viewed as an act of war. “

Danko just smiled at her. As Andes looked down on him, she realized that he still made her skin crawl. There was some history between them, years ago, a time in her life that Andes kept locked away in her mind.

“There is no more coalition. That died with the commander.” Clarke felt a sharp pain in her heart at the mention of Lexa.

“My people will come and look for me, and when they find me, they will kill you.”

“Sky girl, your people have no idea where you are. “ He squatted in front of her, “So let me tell you what is going to happen. In two days, you will wed me, and then Skaikru and Azgeda will be one.”

Clarke laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. Why the hell would you think that I would agree to marry you?” she spat out.

Danko again smiled. “Here, in our territory, I don’t need consent. I just need two other clan leaders to be present at the union. And I already have them waiting for us at our capital. So you see, when Azgeda and Skaikru are united, with Wanheda at my side, we will have the strongest clan. Then we will march on Polis, and I will unite the clans, and become commander.”

Andes shuttered at the thought of this man being commander.

Clarke looked at him with as much distaste and hate as she could muster. “You could never be commander, are you even _natblida_ , a nightblood?”

Danko didn’t answer her.

“I didn’t think so, nobody will follow you. “

“You would be surprised what people do when faced with death.”

“Well, my people will never join you, “

“If they wish to see you again, alive, then they will.”

“They will never join you.” Clarke said this slowly and forcibly. Andes had to admit, the girl was spirited, and quite beautiful. Her hair was the color of sunshine. She remembered hearing “wanheda” whispered here and there, and now here she was, in need of a rescue, and Andes would be happy oblige, and piss off Danko.

Danko turned away from Clarke and went back to where his horse awaited. “Wait here until tomorrow, “ he said to his 2nd, “ I will prepare the capital for the union.“  
His 2nd nodded. He knew the two clan leaders that would be in attendance. They were coerced, not so gently, to attend. Danko had no friends among the clans. All feared him. He killed his own brother after all. His only way to get their cooperation was through force.

Clarke rested her head against the tree. She was sitting down with her hands tied behind her back. She was so tired, but refused to show it. She was frightened also. How would anybody find her way up here? The thought of being forced to possible wed, marry, whatever, that warrior sent revulsions through her. How the hell was she going to get away in two days, surrounded by all these men? Think Clarke, think. She bit her lower lip and stared into the trees in front of her, lost in thought. She saw a movement. She blinked her eyes, because she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. A person? Hanging upside down from a tree about twenty feet from her. A girl she thought, but it was really hard to tell, because she was covered in god knows what, some type of paint, she blended right into the scenery. The girl held a finger to her lips, showed Clarke a dagger, and made a motion, with her hands, and Clarke thought the girl meant to somehow get the dagger to her. Clarke quickly and discreetly looked around the camp. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her. She looked back for the girl and she was gone. Was that a figment of her imagination? Was she seeing things? Jesus. After a few minutes she felt something behind her, she saw a muddied arm reach from behind her and slip the dagger into her boot. Well, she wasn’t seeing things. At least there was that. She had no clue what this girl expected of her. How this was going to play out, one girl against all these men? Clarke knew there were some pretty awesome women warriors here on the ground, but those odds seemed impossible.

After giving the dagger to the sky girl, Andes climbed back into the trees. She scouted the surrounding area, putting together a plan in her head. She already had an idea of where they could go after she freed the girl. Tonight, she would put some supplies at this place. And then she would wait until tomorrow to make her move, because when they started moving again, they would be more spread out and easier to pick off.

Clarke couldn’t sleep. The only thing that kept her sane was the knife in her boot. This girl was real, and maybe she had help with her. Maybe she was with a clan that she knew. Some of the clans were still wary of Skaikru, but some were on friendlier terms. The last 6 months have been trying to say the least. After Lexa’s death, and Luna’s refusal to take the flame, there was a vacuum of leadership. All of the nightbloods were murdered by Ontario, who was then put to death for her crimes. Kane, Abby and the rest of them tried to help Trikru and the people of Polis through this difficult time. They helped them form a council, a small group of respected leaders in the city. But switching from ruled by one to ruled by a few was not easy. Indra kept the army intact, but the peace around the clans was extremely tenuous. One clan going off half cocked, like the ice nation, would be enough to start a war amongst them all. And Clarke wasn’t ready for an all out war.

If only Lexa had lived. Clarke sighed and the heaviness in her heart was a weight that dragged her down. Missing her was an understatement. It ached to her very core. She was empty inside without her. They didn’t have much time together, but the time they spent had been precious and passionate. And now, there was nothing. Clarke pushed those thoughts away, and tried to find escape in her sleep, but sleep brought dreams, and dreams brought Lexa. She sighed and leaned her head back. It was going to be a long night. As they all were. She felt the flame in the pocket of her jacket, and it somehow gave her comfort, like Lexa was there with her now. She had been lucky so far, no one here had found it. She made a mental note, that if she got back to Arkadia, no, when she got back to Arkadia, she would find a safer spot to hide it. She was putting it at risk by carrying it around. She closed her eyes, and after a while, sleep found her.

Morning brought sunshine and a cool wind. Andes watched as they prepared to break camp. Most of the army moved off during the night, and they left eleven guards behind for the girl. She knew there were two on horseback, and the rest would be on foot. The horses were in front as they headed for the ice nation capital. Sky girl was at the back, with two guards near her. Her hands were now tied in front of her, attached to a longer rope that was held by one of her guards. Two others brought up the rear, they lagged behind the others. They would be first. Andes accounted for all of them and what weapons they had, then checked her own, bow and arrows, two swords on her back, two daggers attached to her thighs. It should be enough. She could tell all the warriors were at ease, too loose, thinking they were safe in their territory. They were talking and laughing. A long time ago, Andes was taught to never be at ease, expect the unexpected all the time. She waited until a bend in the path, and quietly dropped behind the two in the rear, the kills were quick, she slashed them both across the neck, and neither had time to even make a sound.

Clarke was behind her guards, allowing just enough slack in the rope that they didn’t pay attention to her. She turned around and looked behind her and noticed that the two that were behind them no longer were there. She looked around to see if anything was amiss with the guards in front. Could the tree girl and others be following? Were they the reason the guards were missing? She stayed on high alert, feeling the dagger in her boot, knowing at the first sign of anything she would be reaching down and cutting the ropes. They entered a clearing now. Clarke felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, sending chills down her spine. Suddenly, arrows were sticking out of the 2 guards closest to Clarke. She turned and saw nothing. But now the warriors in front heard the bodies drop, and turned. They drew their weapons and rushed back to where Clarke was. What happened next was a blur to Clarke. The tree girl now stood in their midst, bone mask hiding the bottom of her face, rising from the long grass, how she got there undetected was amazing, and let loose three more arrows and three more warriors dropped to the ground. Now the horses were upon her, and she drew a sword and raced towards the tree line, with the ice nation in hot pursuit. She was up the first tree and gone in a blink of an eye. The first horseman pulled up and looked into the branches, shouting orders to the rest. They split up and looked into all the trees. They briefly forgot about Clarke, so she reached down, grabbed the dagger and cut through the ropes. She sprinted out of the clearing and ducked behind a tree. She turned to look back for the girl. Her eyes caught movement to her left. The girl had dropped onto one of the horseman and quickly slashed across his throat, and dumped the body off the horse. The other warriors charged her, and she rode hard right at them, and then she stood up on the back of the horse, and just when they would have been in striking distance, she jumped up and back into the trees. “She was like a fucking pauna for god’s sake,” Clarke thought.

Once again the men circled back and couldn’t find her. They were spread out, searching in vain, one horse left, and two on foot. One of the men blew a horn, sounding an alarm, and Clarke knew that soon others would come. Tree girl must have thought the same because she was now on the ground both swords drawn, and Clarke wasn’t so sure of these odds. But the show was just beginning. It was like a deadly dance. She moved gracefully, easily avoiding the wild swings of her first attacker. She seemed to be one or two steps ahead of the man trying to kill her. He couldn’t land any blows because she was too quick, and with each thrust of his sword, he was rewarded with a slice across his arms or legs. She ran him through and pushed him off her sword as the next one came at her on horseback, swinging an ax at her head. Again, she avoided the blow. His momentum took him flying past her, so he pulled up and circled back. The girl reached down for her dagger and threw it, landing it right between his eyes. Finally, there was one left. The last one standing was the biggest, and the two circled each other, then both attacked, swords clanging. Clarke saw one of the other men, left for dead, struggling to get up. He got on his feet and he held her gun in his hand. They had taken it from Clarke when they captured her.

“Oh crap,” Clarke thought, and she ran towards him as he was pointing the pistol at the tree girl. Clarke picked up a sword from one of the dead men and rushed him. He was firing off shots which caused both warriors to turn towards him, and in that instant of distraction, the tree girl quickly sliced at the back of her opponent’s legs, grabbed him and swung him in front of her, using him as a shield to ward off the bullets. Now Clarke was near the gun man and swung the sword, taking him out. She picked up her gun and stuck it in the back of her pants. Tree girl quickly grabbed a horse and jumped onto its back, steering him towards Clarke, she reached down her hand and Clarke was looking up at steely gray eyes and in an instant, she had to decide if she could trust this person. Clarke made her choice and grabbed her hand. She was hauled up easily in front of the girl. Strong arms wrapped around Clarke to keep her steady, and they took off into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

They rode in silence, riding hard and fast. They could hear a thundering of hooves in the distance, as more riders were coming after them.   
They finally came to a stop. The girl dismounted and reached for Clarke, who swung her leg over the horse, grabbed her hand and was placed safely on the ground. A hard slap on the horse’s rump sent him on his way. Tree girl then reached behind her back and pulled out rope. She went to Clarke and started threading the rope through Clarke’s legs and around her waist, then tied off the rope around her own waist. Clarke didn’t like the looks of this, climbing? She looked up, and all she saw was a sheer rock formation. There was no way Clarke could climb that. The girl instead went up in the tree next to it, thank god. She climbed to the first branch and reached down for Clarke, and this is how Clarke ended up 60 feet in the tree tops. She was so nervous she thought she would pee herself. But at each branch, the girl made sure Clarke was secure and holding on before they advanced to the next one. Now there was a ledge in the rocks, well hidden from below, and the girl jumped over to it and reached back for Clarke. She had no choice, right? She grabbed her hand and was pulled onto the rocks. This all happened in a matter of minutes, but to Clarke it seemed like an hour. Now they were hidden somewhere up in the cliff, unseen to anyone below. 

The girl was standing and looking down as they heard horses stop below. Voices carried up the cliff, angry. Clarke sat on the ground, and finally got a chance to observe her rescuer. She was taller than Clarke, by almost a head. Wide shoulders tapered down to narrow hips. She was very strong looking, muscles everywhere. She was covered in mud, but she also had blood splattered all over from the fighting. Clarke hoped it wasn’t hers and that she wasn’t injured. She had no medical supplies with her. Her hair was slicked back and shorter than Clarke was used to seeing, she guessed it must be black hair, but she really couldn’t tell because of the mud. She only wore bindings over her breasts up top, and shorts that ended mid-thigh. She had sandals on her feet, with leather straps crisscrossing behind her calves and tied off below her knees. They still hadn’t spoken to each other, and Clarke wasn’t sure the girl would even understand her. They heard the horses move off, and the girl turned around and slid down to sit across from Clarke. She leaned her head back against the rocks, closed her eyes and sighed. Her right knee, which was closest to Clarke, was raised and she rested her hand on it. Clarke felt she needed to express her gratitude somehow, she reached out and put her hand on top of the girl’s that was resting on her knee. The girl’s eyes flew open and she stared at Clarke. Clarke felt trapped by those gray eyes. She felt like the girl was looking into her soul, but it wasn’t a violating feeling, it was something else, something passed between them, a tiny spark of some sort? Clarke had to blink to stop the connection.   
She cleared her throat, “Thank you, for risking your life to save me,”

There was a slight hesitation, and Clarke thought she didn’t understand her, but then the girl removed her bone mask, and Clarke was rewarded with a smile, “you’re welcome,”

Clarke was relieved, at least they’ll be able to talk. 

“I’m Clarke kom Skaikru.”

Andes studied Clarke, and noticed that her hand was still resting on hers, atop her knee. She found it to be quite pleasant, and was hoping to keep it there for a bit. She was a little mesmerized by her eye color. The color of the sky. Andes had never seen eyes that color before. But she saw pain in those blue eyes, down deep. She didn’t know what was causing it, but her eyes told a sad story. She forgot the girl was waiting for her reply.

“Andes.” Her voice was a little scratchy and deep, gravelly. 

“Andes?” Clarke said, hoping she was pronouncing it correctly. The girl slightly nodded, and the smile was still there. Actually, a really nice smile Clarke thought, even through all the paint and blood on her face.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. And thanks again. I don’t know how you did that, or why you did that, but I owe you big time.”

“You don’t owe me, Clarke kom Skaikru. Any enemy of Azgeda is a friend of mine,” she smiled at Clarke. Now it was Clarke’s turn to smile. At that moment Clarke realized that she still had her hand on Andes knee.

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” was her quick reply. Too quick? The smile was still there, and Clarke didn’t know quite what to make of this girl. She seemed very different than anyone else she met on the ground. She seemed oddly charming.

“I’m hoping that none of that blood is yours?”

“No, it’s not my blood. I’m fine.” Clarke just stared for a couple seconds, before she realized she was doing it.

“Where are you from?” Clarke asked.

Andes shook her head a little, “Nowhere.”

“Nowhere? Are you alone? Don’t you have, like family or clan, or something?”

“No, it’s just me. I don’t have a clan.”

“I don’t understand. I thought all grounders belonged somewhere, to some clan.”

“Well,“ she shrugged, “I guess I’m not like all grounders.” You sure aren’t, thought Clarke.

“I also have quite a few enemies, so living alone helps me stay alive.”

Clarke let that one digest for a minute. Did she have to be worried about this girl? She looked into her eyes and decided she didn’t. Clarke was a pretty good judge of character. 

“Why do you have so many enemies?” The girl was staring intently at Clarke, and once again Clarke found she couldn’t look away, they were both locked in right now.

“I killed a clan leader.” 

Ok, so she’s a murderer. Maybe Clarke should revisit her judgment. No, she got a good feeling from the girl, her gut said she was good, and Clarke had learned to always trust her gut.

“I’m sure he deserved it.” Clarke said.

Andes laughed at that, finally breaking eye contact, “He did.” 

“Well, I don’t want to put you in anymore danger than I already have. I should probably head out.” Clarke got up and peaked over the side of the cliff. How the hell was she going to get down?

“Clarke, I didn’t rescue you to just send you on your way alone. These woods are thick with Azgeda fighters, and they will be for the next few days at least. You were a very special prisoner. Danko isn’t just going to let you go.”

Clarke knew the girl was making sense. “Do you have plan then?”

“Yes. The plan is to avoid capture.” 

“Hm, that’s a bit simplistic, maybe we could flesh it out a bit.”

“I’m just kidding. “ She winked at Clarke, a wink from a grounder. Andes got up and brushed the dirt from her pants, which Clarke found funny, since she was covered in mud and blood. She grabbed a stick and began drawing a map in the dirt at their feet.

“Ok, we are here, this is ice nation. We are at least a two day walk inside their territory. This area is obviously the most dangerous. We’ll have to travel at night and rest during the day.” She then proceeded to draw a map of the whole surrounding area, “over here is Skaikru, here is Polis.” She pointed out other landmarks, like the desert, the sea, and after a moment of hesitation, she drew her last circle, “and here is the mountain.” Andes looked up at Clarke. 

“You know about Mountain?”

“Everyone knows about the Mountain, and Wanheda. But I didn’t know you were Wanheda, until Danko called you that.”

“Not my finest hour.” Clarke closed her eyes and sighed. Andes noticed the sadness in Clarke’s face at the mention of the Mountain. Was this the cause of her pain? She guessed she didn’t realize how much of a hero she was to most grounders.

“You saved a lot of people.” 

“So they tell me.” Clarke mentally shook it off and looked at the circles in the dirt. Arkadia looked far.

“How long to make it back?”

“On foot, probably 5 or 6 days.”

“What about horseback?”

“Too dangerous. It’s hard to be discreet thundering through the forest on horseback.” 

Clarke knew she had a point. “So I guess you get me back to here, “she said pointing at the end of Ice Nation lands, “and then I’ll make my way back home.”

“Clarke, I will see you safely back to your people. I freed you, it’s my duty now.”

“Your duty? I think you’ve done enough.” She looked at Andes, and saw the resolve in her eyes. Clarke shook her head, “You grounders and your sense of duty.” Andes smiled. She did that a lot Clarke thought.

“We should rest now, we have a long night ahead of us.” Andes stood up and disappeared behind some rocks. When she reappeared, she carried a pack. She pulled out some pelts and handed one to Clarke. Clarke looked surprised. “How the ?”

“I knew this was the best place to hide, so I put the pack here last night. “ She also pulled out some water. They each took a big swig. Clarke was thankful for both.

Andes stretched herself out on the ground and shut her eyes. 

Clarke sat down. She wasn’t tired at all though, so she tried to relax. After a few minutes, she wasn’t getting anywhere. “Andes,” she whispered softly in case she was asleep.

Andes cracked one eye open and looked at her.

“I can’t sleep.”

Andes sighed and brought herself up to a sitting position. “What would you like to do, Clarke?”

“Can we just talk?”

“Ok, what would you like to talk about?”

“I don’t know.” Clarke shrugged. “Did you want to ask me any questions?”

Andes knew she was bursting with questions for the sky girl. The night sky always fascinated her, ever since she could remember, and here was a girl that lived up there. 

“Ok, you fell from the sky. So, you were living up in the sky, right? Tell me what it was like, and how that was even possible.”

Clarke told Andes about life in space, how the ark came to be, how they all lived up there for a few generations. Andes was a good listener, and Clarke found her to be extremely intelligent. She reminded her of Raven, with her smarts and personality. She was funny like Raven too, making Clarke laugh quite a bit. There was a rapport between them, almost instantly, like they knew each other for much longer than a couple hours. Clarke told her of her life on the ark, her dad, being in lock up for a year, and their journey to the ground. Andes was amazed that Clarke never saw trees, water, mountains, real animals before, just seeing them for the first time in her life. Clarke finally started to yawn a bit. She really hadn’t slept much the past week. Andes insisted they stop the conversation and get some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Andes woke up just after sunset and looked over at Clarke. She was still fast asleep. She was a beautiful girl, but deeply troubled. She sounded like a great leader, and Andes knew that being a leader was a terrible burden. So many lives depended on you. These thoughts brought back memories, memories she hadn’t thought about in a long time. If she had chosen a different path, would she have been a leader? She brought herself back to the present. She reached over and gently shook Clarke. Clarke slowly opened her eyes, and it took a couple seconds to remember her situation. She rubbed her face. “I’m ready, sorry, I’m awake.” She stood up and rolled her shoulders back to get the kinks out.

“Ok, let’s get this rope back on you. Would hate to go through all this trouble of saving you only to have you fall from the tree and die.”

“Yeah, that would kind of suck.”

“Suck?” Andes looked up at her while she wound the rope around Clarke’s waist.

“Suck,” Clarke realized maybe she didn’t know the word. “Suck, means stink, like, that would stink, or that wouldn’t be good.”

“Oh, ok. Yeah, that would definitely suck.” Again she smiled at Clarke, who smiled back at her, she was a quick learner.

Andes started down the tree, slowly, making sure Clarke followed in her footsteps. It took a little longer getting down than going up, and once Clarke’s feet hit the ground she let out a big sigh of relief. As they started to coil the ropes back up, Clarke heard a sound in the bushes, an animal, a big animal. She looked at Andes, who didn’t seem to hear it.

“Did you hear that?” Clarke asked with panic in her voice.

“What?” More rustling. “Oh that. Well, when I told you I lived alone, I lied. I do have family, three boys.” Clarke just stared at the girl, what the hell was she talking about?

Andes let out a soft whistle, and then a soft sound inTrig, like she was calling someone or something. Clarke’s heart leapt in her throat, because out of the bushes came three very large wolves. She looked at Andes, who looked back at her, “meet my boys, Clarke.” They came over to Andes and rubbed against her, and she leaned down and hugged them all and kissed each on the head, “my good boys.” She made them sit. “Clarke, come here and meet my dogs.” 

Clarke hesitated. “Dogs? They’re wolves.”

“They’re dogs Clarke. I raised them from puppies.”

“You mean you raised them from cubs, because those are wolves.” 

Andes scoffed at Clarke. “Do you want to meet them or not?”

“Ok, I guess.”

“Then come over here.” Clarke walked slowly up to the first one. “This is Jaks, Jaks ron.” The wolf raised his paw at Clarke and she shook it.   
“Good boy. And this is Sampson, and this is Midnight, obviously because he’s black as midnight. “ Clarke met each one, still very unsure of them.

“They’re my eyes and ears in the forest. We’ve saved each other may times. They’ve been with me for 5 years, they’re all I have.” Clarke watched the animals with Andes, and she could see the devotion in their eyes. She decided she was safe.

“Where they abandoned by their mother?”

“No, she didn’t abandon them, she died. I came across her body, and these guys were just hanging around her, hoping she would get up, but she was gone. I skinned her and wore her pelt for a while, so they would imprint on me. I guess it worked, cause I can’t seem to get rid of them now.” She rubbed their heads. “Well, we should really get going, are you ready?” 

Clarke nodded. “Yep, as ready as I’ll ever be,” she said.

“Good, here,” she handed Clarke some dried meat that was in her pack, “I don’t know about you but I’m starving. We’ll have to be quiet as we walk, voices carry through the forest at night.” Clarke nodded again, she figured it was going be a long one.

Andes sent the wolves off and they started walking south. Clarke stayed close behind Andes, since she seemed to know where they should be walking. They walked for hours in silence, and Clarke thought she was going to pass out from exhaustion. Finally the sun started to rise and Andes suggested they find a place to stay for the day. Clarke liked that idea a lot. Andes knew the terrain, and guided them to a rocky outcrop. She went up in the trees to make sure there was nobody else in the area. 

“God, don’t fall, “ Clarke called up to her.

“Relax, I never fall,” she called back down. It was all clear, so they spread the furs out. Clarke slid down and put her head back and fell asleep immediately. Andes just watched her for a few minutes. When she was sleeping, she looked so much younger. With her hair the color of the sun, and her eyes the color of the sky, she really was a sky girl. 

Hours later, Clarke opened her eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight. She had no idea what time of day it was. Across from her lay Andes, sound asleep with her head resting on one of the wolves, Jaks. Now that looked comfy, why didn’t Clarke think of that? She struggled to stand, stiff from lying on the hard ground, she groaned and stretched. Jaks picked his head up, which in turn woke Andes up. Clarke felt a little bad now, everyone was up because of her. 

“Good morning, “ Clarke said, “or I guess it’s actually good afternoon.” 

Andes made a guttural sound in her throat. She sat up, and looked around. “Did you just wake up?”

“About 5 minutes ago.” 

She yawned and moved her neck around to get the kinks out. 

“Nice pillow you got there.” Clark said.

Andes looked down at Jaks. “It was a nice pillow actually.” 

“Yeah, well, thanks for sharing.” 

Andes smiled and stretched her arms up in the air and stood up. “Well, maybe I’ll share tonight if you behave yourself.” She gave Clarke a big grin.

Clarke just gave her a as mean a look as she could manage, but couldn’t really pull it off. “So tell me, is there a bath in our future?”

“You feel the need for a bath, Clarke?” 

“God yes, you don’t? Because you smell like a swamp, I’m just saying,” Clarke said teasingly.

Andes looked at her, then looked down at herself, she was pretty filthy. She took a whiff, yeah, that was bad. “I used mud from the river, that must be it.”

Andes stood up and stretched some more. She moved closer to Clarke and sniffed.

“I don’t smell that bad, swamp girl.” She said with a smile. Andes looked at her, then rubbed her arm along Clarke’s arm. “Yo, don’t do that, I don’t want that stench.” Andes, a wide grin splitting her face, moved close to her again and rubbed along the other arm. “Seriously, stay away, don’t you dare, “ she said, starting to laugh a little, but giving a warning look to Andes, “Stay back, swampy,” backing away now, with her hands up. But Andes was too quick for her, and she wrapped her arms around Clarke and lifted her in the air and shook her a bit, then set her back down. “Oh, my god, I will get you back for this.”

“There, now we both smell like a swamp, you won’t know who you smell, because a bath is at least a day away.”

“You think you’re funny, but you’re not.”

“Oh, I’m funny.” Clarke was exasperated, and Andes just laughed at her.

“I’ll go find us some food, you stay here,” she walked past Clarke, but stopped right next to her, took a sniff, “You stink.” 

Clarke shoved her playfully. “Go, get us some food, me and the boys are hungry.”

Andes came back with a couple rabbits, already skinned. They started a small fire, small enough to cook the meat, but not too large to send smoke up in the air. They didn’t want to give away their location to anyone. They ate in silence for a while. Andes tossed scraps to the dogs.

“Andes, don’t you get lonely out here by yourself?”

“No, not really. I do go into the villages occasionally though. I trade for supplies, stuff like that, “ then she raised her eyebrows at Clarke, “take care of some other needs.”

“What needs?“ Clarke asked. She thought she got the gist of it, but she wasn’t exactly sure.

“Needs, you know, needs. The body has needs Clarke.” 

“You mean sex.”

“Sex?”

“Yeah, you know, when two people, lay with each other.” Clarke left it at that. 

“Ah, sex, it that what you call it up in space?”

“Oh, we call it lots of things, sex is just one of them. The easy one.”

“Then yes, I go to the villages for sex.” 

Clarke was curious now. This was some good dirt.

“Who do you have sex with?”

“There are a few women that I like to visit.”

“No men?”

“No, no men.”

“Do you care for them? Or is it just physical? Just satisfying those ‘needs’.” Clarke put quotes around the “needs” part.

“I like them. They like me. We talk, and then have sex.” 

“Damn, you’re like a playa.” Using the phrase that Raven loved to use. “So what, you have a girl in every village?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“Like friends with benefits.”

“Friends with benefits?”

“Yea, it’s casual, um, nobody gets all mushy and lovey and gooey eyed at each other, no commitment. Just casual sex, just sex.”

“I guess so. I have a few friends with benefits. What about you? Do you have friends with benefits?” 

“No, not really. I guess I’m more the lovey, gooey type. I kinda lost someone that I really cared about recently. So, the friends with benefits is off the table right now.” 

Andes thought maybe that was what made her sad. “Well, it sounds like friends with benefits is just what you need then. No commitment, just sweet release. You shouldn’t deny your body that pleasure just because you’re not gooey eyed over someone. “ Clarke didn’t have a response to that. 

“Didn’t you ever just, I don’t know, just lust over someone? You absolutely had to have it?” Andes asked, widening her eyes for emphasis.

“No, well, maybe, I don’t know. “

“C’mon Clarke, You must have a lot of people wanting you, you’re very beautiful. I wouldn’t kick you out of my bed.” She said wryly.

Clarke was caught off guard with that comment. “Did you just flirt with me?”

“Flirt? Not sure I know what that means.”

“Flirting, ugh. That’s when someone, how the heck do I describe this? OK, when someone makes comments, of a sexual nature, but in a playful manner…, but not…well, yes, it’s sexual, but not overly sexual, more like, under the radar sexual….. ”

“Yes, I was flirting.” Andes started laughing. “I do know what flirting is Clarke.”

“What? Oh ok, thanks for making me sound like an idiot.”

“It was quite funny. Your little brows got all scrunchy, such a determined look on your face.”

“I don’t like you right now.”

Andes took her canteen and splashed a little water on Clarke. She gave Clarke her best puppy dog eyes.

“Oh, does that usually work. Flashing the eyes, flashing the smile. You’re probably used to getting anybody you want, aren’t you?”

“Usually.” 

Clarke suddenly felt out of her league and wanted to change the subject, “So, if you live alone, how did you become such a great warrior?” 

“Great warrior? Oh, no. I’m a better lover than fighter,” she said with a wicked grin, might as well keep flirting, this girl was flirt worthy.

Clarke smiled at that, “Well, shit, you took out ten warriors in less than five minutes, you must be fantastic in bed then.”

That got a big laugh out of Andes.

“So they tell me Clarke, so they tell me and it was eleven, but who’s counting.” She did not lack for confidence.

“Seriously, I never saw anybody fight like you did back there. How did you do it? You had three men coming at you, and you made it look so easy.”

Andes rubbed behind her neck absently.

“Well, it’s hard to describe. The only thing I can say is, that I seem to know what they’re going to do before they do it. It’s like my mind is analyzing the situation, figuring out the probabilities, letting me anticipate their actions. I know I’m probably not describing it very well. It’s something I’ve always been able to do, ever since I can remember. And it’s just not people, when I’m hunting, the same thing. I can anticipate which way the animal is going to move.”

“So, you guess?”

“No, it doesn’t feel like guessing, it feels like I’m seeing into the future for a few seconds. And what I see, in my mind’s eye, is always what happens. I know, it’s really strange and you probably now think I’m crazy. You’re on a long trek with a crazy person.”

“Sounds amazing actually, impressive. Although if you told me without me seeing it, I would think you were crazy, and I would probably kill you in your sleep, when your mind’s eye was sleeping, and run away.” They both started laughing. Clarke looked at Andes thoughtfully, “ok, I’m thinking of a number, between 1 and 10.”

“Why are you thinking of a number?”

“I want to see if your mind’s eye can figure out what’s in my head.”

“I’m not a mind reader, for god’s sake.” 

“So, you can anticipate moves, but not read minds? Well, maybe it’s not as impressive as I thought.” Clarke said kiddingly, and got up to make her bed for night.

“Seven.”

Clarke stopped what she was doing and turned around with an incredulous look on her face, “What did you say?”

“Seven.” Andes looked at Clarke and started laughing all over again, “Wait, was that it?”

Clarke walked over to Andes and put her in a playful headlock, “oh my god, are you reading my fucking mind? Have you been inside my head the whole time?”

Andes was rolling now, “No, I swear I can’t read minds, I just totally guessed at that.” She was grabbing Clarkes arm, trying to pull it off, but not trying too hard. 

“Are you sure?” Clarke asked, still holding Andes.

“I’m sure, I swear, I’m sure.” 

Clarke let go, “you’re a jackass, cute, but a jackass just the same.” Clarke wasn’t serious, she was just having fun, she had no idea why she felt the need to touch the girl though, but she did. The girl was having a weird affect on her, must be all the flirting. When was the last time someone flirted with her this much, maybe Finn? 

“Damn Clarke, you’re stronger than you look, “ Andes said, rubbing her throat. 

“Oh please, now I know you’re lying.” 

Andes was fun. She still found that hard to believe, a grounder who was fun. Who knew? But something was different about her, very ungrounder like. It was her speech pattern, her words, the way she phrased things. More old world, Clarke’s world, then this new world. She certainly was mysterious.

“I’ve never met a grounder like you. You’re kinda fun, it just blows my mind.”

“Well, I already told you I’m not like every grounder. Life can suck down here. Did I use that right?” Clarke smiled and nodded. “I could be dead tomorrow. So why not enjoy every minute of what life has to offer?”

“Very philosophical.” Clarke said and thought that was a good way to live your life, and wished she were as unburdened as Andes. They were both sleepy after their meal. There was still daylight, so they thought they could take a little nap. “I’m going to shut my eyes for a few minutes, and I’m going to dream of a bath.” Clarke said.

“I’m going to dream of a bath for you too.” 

Clarke threw a stick at her. “Hey, I thought you were going to share your pillow there.”

“I said I would share if you behaved yourself, putting me into a headlock is not behaving.”

“I promise I’ll behave tomorrow.”

Andes looked at her, Clarke said she was cute, so she certainly wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to lay close to her. “Ok, if you promise.”

Clarke held up two crossed fingers, “I swear.” Andes nodded, and Clarke moved over next to her, not touching, and rested her head on Jaks. “Much better. If you’d packed pillows, this wouldn’t be an issue.” 

Andes turned and smiled at Clarke, “I’ll remember for next time.” And Clarke once again thought what a beautiful smile it was.


	4. Chapter 4

Nightfall brought more walking, more silence. Clarke liked it better when they could chat. She liked talking to Andes. She felt so at ease around her, like they’d known each other for much longer than three days. By day break, there was a shift in the weather, it was warmer, and the forest got denser.

“This is the border of Azgeda lands, here.” Andes told Clarke. “And, in about an hour we can get that bath.” That was the best news Clarke had heard in days.

The hour passed, and Andes led them to a small pool, in a secluded area, tucked behind a thicket of trees and bushes. She immediately stripped off her clothes and waded in. It was deep, but not very large, maybe ten feet across. Clarke turned away quickly, not wanting to see something she shouldn’t be seeing. Andes went under and surfaced in the middle of the water. “C’mon Clarke, it’s wonderful.”

Clarke was a little hesitant, a little modest, she looked at Andes and made a circle with her hands, “Turn around.”

“Really, are you shy?” Andes laughed. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before you know.”

“Well, I’m modest, so I would appreciate it if you would please turn around.” Andes splashed water at her and turned around. Clarke quickly undressed and stepped in the water, she made sure she stayed down so the water hid her nakedness. She looked over at Andes, who had a bar of soap and was scrubbing herself clean.

“Hey, where’d you get that?”

“From one of my friends with benefits.”

“Oooh. She likes you clean, does she. Can I please have it after you’re done?”

“Of course you may, after all, it is in my best interest if you smell better, I’m the one standing next to you all day. “ After she was done washing her hair, she swam over to Clarke and handed it to her.

“Don’t drop it.” She moved her hand away just as Clarke reached for it. Clarke grabbed her arm and pried the soap out of her hand.

“I won’t. Turn around.”

“Oh my god, really?” Andes swam back away from Clarke and Clarke noticed that her hair wasn’t dark at all, but so blond it was almost white.

“Holy crap, your hair! I thought it was dark, it’s like, bleach blond.”

“Yeah, it’s unusual, “ she said, turning back to talk to her.

“Turn around!”

“Oops, sorry.” She really wasn’t sorry, she smiled to herself. She caught Clark half out of the water, and decided that Clarke looked real good without clothes. “I don’t know why you’re so shy Clarke, you have beautiful a body, you should be proud of it.”

Clarke felt herself blushing now. “Shut up. You shouldn’t have looked.” She said with a little smile. Andes was done and stood up out of the water. Clarke didn’t avert her eyes this time. She watched every inch of Andes climb out of the water. Holy shit. She was like a fucking amazon. She was perfect, Clarke couldn’t find a flaw on her. She had the standard grounder tattoos on her back, and she was ripped. Her abs looked like they were carved from stone and they stood out a little from her body. She turned back to the water and began washing their clothes, the veins standing out in her forearms. Now Clarke saw a flaw, she had scars around her wrists. That was curious. A question for later perhaps. Her blond hair was chin length and started to wave as it dried. Her thick eye lashes and eye brows were black, making her gray eyes stand out even more. Her breasts were high and firm, a necklace hung at her throat, a leather necklace with a silver piece on the end. She had prominent cheek bones and a wide generous mouth capped the whole thing off. She was gorgeous. Now Clarke felt self conscious. Andes looked over to the sky girl and saw her staring. She raised her eyebrows.

“Nice tattoos,” was the first thing that came out of Clarke’s mouth, and she cringed inside. That was stupid. She started to feel a little something deep in the pit of her stomach. She found she was enjoying the show a little too much. Shake it off Clarke, shake it off, she told herself. And stop staring.

Andes knew Clarke was still staring, and she didn’t want her to stop. She continued to flaunt herself, enjoying the fact that she was making Clarke uncomfortable, getting her a little out of her comfort zone. They both knew what she was doing. When Andes was done washing their clothes, she spread them out on a rock in the sun to dry. She then stretched out herself, basking in the warmth, the water drops all over her body evaporating in the heat.

“Are you getting out soon Clarke, you’ll be as wrinkled as a raisin.”

Now Clarke was in a pickle. Her clothes were wet, and wouldn’t be dry for a little while, and there was a goddess with the perfect body lounging on the rocks, making her self-conscious, but also making her feel a little something else. Andes eyes appeared to be closed, so Clarke thought maybe she fell asleep. She crept out of the water and set up on the other side of the pond. Andes cracked an eye and watched the whole thing. She shut it quickly when Clarke looked over at her. She couldn’t hold back a smile.

“What are you smiling at?” Clarke called to her. Andes ignored her, and decided she needed a little cat nap.

“Should one of us keep watch?” Clarke asked.

“The dogs will tell us if someone is near. Relax and try and get some sleep.”

Clarke woke up a little while later. She looked over and Andes was nowhere to be found. She noticed that her clothes were folded neatly and were right next to her. She groaned. That means that Andes walked over here, and got the full monty. She was mortified. Then she decided that she shouldn’t be embarrassed. She knew she had a nice body, maybe not as firm as Andes, definitely more curves, but in all the right places. Fuck it, let her look. She wondered if Andes found her attractive, if her body reacted to Clarke’s like Clarke’s reacted to hers earlier. Now why did that thought pop into her head? She was still in mourning; she should get her thoughts out of the gutter. Disgusted with herself, she got up and dressed. She thought she should start a fire, since Andes was probably out getting dinner. She gathered up some sticks and rubbed them together, softly blowing on it when the sparks started. She kept it small, the smoke to a minimum, since they still could be in danger. Finally Andes came back with a few fish. She looked at the fire and gave Clarke a “well-done” nod. She set about cleaning the fish, threaded a stick through it and set them on the fire. Clarke decided that she wasn’t so intimidating when she was clothed. She watched her profile while she cooked the fish. Andes looked up and caught Clarke’s eyes. Clarke swears she saw her eyes change color, darken slightly. But then it was gone, as fast as it came.

“Feel better after your bath Clarke? I know you smell better.” She smiled at her.

“As a matter of fact, I feel great, thanks for asking.”

“Hm, feel better after your nap?”

“Yeah, thanks for washing and folding my clothes.” Clarke looked at her, putting it out there that she knew Andes probably got a good look at all of Clarke, hoping for a blush, but none was coming.

“I have a surprise for you. Tonight we can sleep in a real bed.”

“How will that happen?”

“There’s a village about 2 hours south west of here. I have a friend there, I know she’ll put us up for the night, and be very discreet about it.”

“A friend?” Clarke asked knowingly.

“Yes,” Andes winked, “a friend.”

“Well, I hope she has more than one bed.”

“She does, you’re safe.”

“From you or her?”

“Both.”

Clarke blushed again. “Clarke, I’m just teasing you, you blush so easily. You’ll have your own room, and we’ll have a nice dinner, and go to bed with our bellies full.”

“Well, that does sound kinda nice.” Clarke said, as she fed some scraps to Jaks. The dog had taken a shine to Clarke. “Your dog loves me by the way.”

“I’d love you too if you hand fed me.”

They made it to the village before nightfall. They stayed on the perimeter, and finally stopped at a small house. Andes let out a slow low whistle. Suddenly the door flew open and very pretty woman stood in the doorway, older than both Andes and Clarke. Clarke guessed that she must be in her late 30’s.

The woman said something in Trig, as she looked Andes up and down, not even noticing Clarke.

“Sara, this is Clarke,” taking Clarke’s hand and pulling her forward. Sara looked Clarke over too, switching languages, “What’s this? You’re bringing another woman to my house?”

“Relax, she’s a friend, we need a place to stay tonight, there may be Azgeda looking for us.” She turned towards Clarke, “The ice queen killed her son years ago.”

Clarke said she was sorry, and Sara stood aside and let them come in. The house was very clean and neat, there was a fire place, a table and four chairs, and two rooms off the back. Clarke craned her neck to look inside the rooms, they both appeared to have beds in them, thank god.

Sara made them dinner, which was a delicious stew, filled with meat and vegetables, a far cry from rabbit and fish. After dinner, she brought out a plate of fruits and nuts. Clarke couldn’t help but notice the sly looks Sara gave Andes all night. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be getting much sleep, the walls looked a little thin. Pretty soon, the girls were yawning. Sara got up from the table and cleared away the plates and went in to her bedroom and closed the door. Clarke looked at Andes, “I guess that’s my room, “ she pointed to the one next door to Sara’s .

Andes smirked, “Yes. Are you going to be ok?” Clarke walked into the room and Andes came over and leaned on her door jam.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Clarke asked.

“It’s just that, if you want someone to warm your bed, I’m sure I can find someone.” Clarke just raised her eyebrows and gave Andes a look.

“Or if you would like me to do that, I can, now, or anytime.” She said with a sly smile and husky voice.

“Somehow I don’t think that will go over very well with your friend there. Now go, take care of those needs, I’m tired of hearing about them.” And with that she closed the door.

She was right, sleep was spotty at best. The noises coming from the other room caused her to put her pillow over her head. When the sun came up, she struggled to get up, groggy from lack of sleep. She finally pushed herself up and opened her door. Andes was seated at the table, chipper and smiling, with the telltale look of someone who just got laid.

“Good morning Clarke.” Clarke just grunted in response.

“You look tired, didn’t you sleep.” Clarke turned around and stared at her, still ignoring her.

“You two were a little loud last night.” She finally said, as she shoved some fruit into her mouth.

Andes made a face, “oh, sorry about that.”

Sara was next to appear, she was still in her night clothes. She came over and put her arms around Andes and kissed her on the neck. Clarke could have strangled both of them.

“Sara packed us some food for our travels, so whenever you’re ready, we should probably get going.” Clarke disappeared into her room. She reappeared a couple minutes later, dressed for the day.

“Sara, _mochof_ , thank you for your hospitality, it was very nice of you to put us up for the night,” Clarke said as she reached her hand out to the woman, who just looked at it, looked at Andes, who motioned with her head that she should take Clarke’s hand. She reached out and clasped it, Clarke shook it. She walked out the door and waited for Andes to come out. A few minutes later, hair mussed, and a shit eating grin on her face, she came out the door and shut it behind her. She stood for a minute and took a deep breath, stretched her arms up, looked up at the sun shining, “It’s going to be a beautiful day.” She casually draped an arm over Clarke as they headed out into the woods. “It was nice to sleep in a bed, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t think either one of us actually slept.” Andes laughed and Clarke pushed her arm off her shoulders. She really wasn’t mad, just giving the girl a hard time.

“So, does she love you, do you love her?” she asked Andes as they walked through the forest.

“Love? No, “she laughed. “That’s just a little lust.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so? I think you would know.”

“Well, if I should know, then I guess I’ve never been.” They walked on in silence for a little bit. “Have you? Been in love?”

“Yeah, I’ve been.”

“Well, what does it feel like?”

“C’mon, you’ve must have seen it, seen somebody in love?” Andes just shrugged her shoulders. “Oh please. You expect me to believe that you don’t know anything about love?” Clarke asked.

“I’d like to hear you describe it.” Clarke remained silent. “I swear I don’t know what it feels like, so tell me.” Clarke looked skeptical. “I swear, I don’t Clarke.” Clarke looked into gray eyes, and couldn’t decide if she was telling the truth.

After a couple of moments, Clarke said, “Ok. Love is,” pausing to gather her thoughts, “love is the best. When you’re in love, the other person is the most important thing in the world. You would die for the person you love.”

“Sounds serious.”

Clarke looked at her to make sure she wasn’t making fun of her, then continued, “When you’re falling in love, you get a funny feeling inside when you’re around the person. You can’t wait to see them, to be around them. You could spend all day talking to them, all you want to do is kiss them, and hold them, and see them smile. You feel so much, sometimes it hurts. And forget about getting anything done. They’re all you think about. You walk around in a daze, your chest hurts, your insides are twisted.”

“That sounds kinda awful Clarke.”

Clarke laughed. “It’s not, it’s the most incredible thing that can ever happen.” Clarke’s eyes suddenly darkened, “but when you lose someone you love, your life feels like it’s over. Your heart is destroyed. You can’t get out of bed, nothing feels good, tastes good. The days are dark, and you feel empty. Cold and empty.”

Andes made a face, “god, that really sounds awful. I can say without a doubt that I’ve never been in love. I’ve never felt like that for anybody.”

“Then you’re missing out, because when it’s good, there’s absolutely nothing like it on earth.” She looked over at Andes, “I’m sure you’ve broken some hearts in your time though.”

“Why do you say that? God, I wouldn’t want to cause anyone that kind of pain.”

Clarke gave a slight shake to her head, “I just mean, look at you, you’re the complete package for god’s sake. You’re gorgeous, you’re funny, charming, smart, I can’t believe some grounder down here hasn’t wanted to domesticate you.” And Clarke thought she saw a blush. “You’re blushing. Ha!”

“I’m not blushing.”

“Yes you did, just then.”

“Clarke, I don’t blush. Now you, you’re a serial blusher.”

“Serial blusher, where the hell did you get that from?”

“I don’t know, I must have heard it somewhere.”

“You’re strange.”

“Well, anyway, back to you statement, no, nobody has wanted to domesticate me, which I think you mean move in with me, or me with her.”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean. Well, maybe you need to be more open to it. More open to love. “

“I’ll try. Cause god knows I would love to feel pain in my chest, and whatever other ailments it causes.” Clarke looked at her and laughed, then gently pushed Andes.

“I bet Sara would want to domesticate you.” Now it was Andes turn to push Clarke.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gets a little dark here

They walked all day, enjoying each other’s company. Andes told Clarke a little about her home, and promised she would show her when they got near enough. If they planned it right, they could spend a night there, under cover and out of the elements. Andes found she wanted to share things with Clarke, her house being one of them. She had never met anyone like Clarke, and she found herself very attracted to her. She hung on every word Clarke said. There were many times that she would look at Clarke and see sadness in her eyes, so she spent those moments trying to make her laugh. And when she succeeded, it made her feel light inside. Then there were times when she wondered what she was like in bed. She found herself watching her mouth when she talked. Yeah, she was lusting a little over this sky girl, that’s for sure. This had turned into an interesting adventure. She wasn’t used to spending this much time with someone, and she wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye when they reached Arkadia.

Clarke was enjoying herself also. Andes made her laugh with all her stories about living out in the forest, all the animals she saved, all the scrapes she got in and out of. Although Clarke did notice that she didn’t talk about her time when she was younger. Never a word about how she came to be by herself. She kept that part of her life hidden away. Clarke found herself letting go of her worries, she felt like she was back on the ark, before they threw her in a cell. She was hanging out with someone who was funny, attractive, and attentive. And flirty. She knew that Andes was attracted to her. One could usually get a sense for these things. It didn’t bother her, she was flattered actually. Clarke wasn’t totally innocent either, she found herself watching Andes when she wasn’t looking. And the view at the pond seemed to have been burned into her brain. Clarke just told herself that she appreciated a great body, that was all. It was a great distraction, this sexual attraction that seemed to be building between them. It would all be over in a few days anyway, Clarke would be back home, and Andes would go on her way.

They found a small cave where they would spend the night. They started to gather wood to make a small fire. Andes thought they were far enough away from Azgeda territory for it to be safe.

“You never told me why you hate ice nation so much,” Clarke said as she bundled as much wood into her arms as she could carry.

Andes was in front of her, bending over and picking up small sticks for kindling. “They murdered my sister.”

“Oh my god, they murdered your sister?” She had a sister?? “Why did they kill her?”

“They killed her because of who she loved.”

Clarke froze, no, “What was her name?” she asked hesitantly.

“Costia.”

Clarke nearly dropped the wood she was carrying. Andes still had her back to her, so she didn’t see Clarke’s reaction. Clarke’s heart was pounding, what were the chances of this happening? “I thought you had said you didn’t have any family.”

“Not alive, they’re all gone.” Andes said matter of factly.

They made it back to the cave and Clarke started to make the fire, while Andes opened the pack of food that Sara had given them. Clarke couldn’t sort out what she was feeling, here in front of her, was a connection to Lexa. She didn’t know whether or not to tell Andes about her relationship with Lexa, since Andes’ sister was Lexa’s lost love. She decided to just keep it quiet for now, until she learned more.

They sat in companionable silence as they ate their meal. Clarke was waiting to ask Andes more questions. She watched her as she ate, she really was so beautiful. Clarke didn’t realize she was staring until her eyes locked in on her gray ones.

“Clarke? You’re staring. Not that I mind, “she said with a grin and wink. Clarke rolled her eyes and shook her head, she was quite the flirt. “Here, try this, you will love it.” And she handed Clarke a piece of some sort of cake.

Clarke bit into it, chewed a bit, “Oh my god, that’s delicious.”

“I know, right? We have 3 pieces, we’ll each have one tonight, and we’ll save one for tomorrow.”

“Wow, I mean, it’s really good. It’s sweet. I haven’t had something like that since before we hit the ground.”

“She makes a great cake.”

“Another reason you need to shack up with her. The sex and the cake.”

“Shack up with her? “ Andes laughed at that. “For her cake? “

“I’d shack up with her for this cake.” Clarke said. “Damn. Where’s that other piece?”

“With me, for safe keeping.” Clarke made a pouty face. Andes started wrapping up the food they didn’t finish, and Clarke thought maybe now was a good time.

“I want to hear more about your sister.” Clarke said. Then she quickly added, “Only if you want to talk about it though, if it’s too painful, I understand.”

“Oh,” she paused. “God, it was a long time ago, so it’s not too painful anymore. What did you want to know?”

“Everything, “she shrugged, “Everything. I bored you with the details of my life aboard the Ark, tell me about her. I still can’t believe we’ve been talking for days and this is the first I’ve heard you even had a sister.”

“Ok, ok, well, let’s see. My sister basically raised me. My mother had died when I was very young, so it was just Cos and myself for a while. Then she met Lexa.” Clarke swallowed. That didn’t take long, to get around to Lexa.

“Lexa? The commander, Lexa?” Clarke asked slowly.

Andes nodded her head, and saw the pain in Clarke’s eyes, curious now she asked, “You knew her then?”

“I was ambassador for our clan. I, “she started then stopped quickly, “We, pledged ourselves to her as the thirteenth clan. We joined her coalition. She had quite a vision, a vision of peace amongst the clans. But I don’t think the clans are ready for that yet, and now that she’s gone.” She just left it at that and sighed, memories washing over her.

“Well, she wasn’t commander when we all met. She and Costia fell in love, like, love at first sight. And they were together a long time. So, really, they both raised me. I had two moms,” she said with a smile. “We were all together until they sent me away.”

“Why did they send you away?” Clarke asked.

She watched Andes face, she hesitated a moment, and Clarke knew she was processing something, deciding whether to tell Clarke something. Which was unusual for Andes, she was always so forthcoming. Andes reached for the dagger that was in front of her, and she poked her finger, then squeezed to let the blood flow. Black blood. Clarke gasped. “Oh my god, you’re _Natblida_?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god. They’ve been looking for nightbloods. The clans need a new commander. Shouldn’t you have been in Polis training since you were little? Holy shit, you’re what, nineteen, twenty? Were you at Lexa’s conclave? No, you couldn’t have been, she would have killed you…. “

The questions came fast and furious and in no particular order, Andes could barely keep up, she raised her hands, “Whoa Clarke!” Clarke stopped talking and just stared at Andes, who was smiling at her. “Do you want my story or not? I promise it will answer all your questions. Deal?”

“Deal. Sorry. “

“In answer to your first question, yes, I am nightblood. And I was sent to Polis when it was discovered. I was supposed to train. But, I was kind of a wild child, different. I loved being in the forest, climbing trees, saving animals, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was building things, figuring how things worked. I had no interest in the training, learning how to fight, or being a commander. At the time, I was the youngest nightblood. I think I was probably four when they found me? Ridiculous that I had started training at that age, but it was serious business being a nightblood. Lexa took me under her wing on our first day. She was about eight years older than me, and I think she felt sorry for me, because everyone just yelled at me to pay attention. She walked me home after that first day, and she met Costia, who had moved with me to Polis. They made an immediate connection. After that day, Lexa would always bring me home. She eventually just started sharing our living quarters. “ Andes stopped to take a breath, and looked at Clarke, who was just staring intently at her, hanging on every word. Andes didn’t know that her life was that interesting, but if Clarke was enjoying her story, then so be it. So she continued.

“Over the years, Costia and Lexa’s relationship deepened. They each thought the other was their soul mate. We all took care of each other, we were a family. Then came the day when we were told the commander had died, and there would be a conclave. By now I was ten years old. I was ten, Clarke, and now I had to enter into a ring, and fight to the death. Only one nightblood would survive and become commander. I found the whole thing so distasteful, it was like killing for sport. I was just different than the rest of them. They all felt like this was their calling, this was their purpose in life. Lexa dreamed of this moment. She was born for it. And if she wanted this moment, she would either have to kill me, or watch someone else kill me. Costia was beside herself. She knew Lexa’s dreams. Imagine, she might have to watch her lover kill her sister. And if it wasn’t Lexa killing me, then Luna would have destroyed me in seconds, or any of the others. I knew I didn’t stand a chance. I never practiced, I never paid much attention when we were being trained, it just bored me. I was awful at the art of war. So, they sent me away to save me. “

“Where did they send you?” Clarke asked.

“There was a respected clan leader, Sarnos. He was desert clan. And since they were far away, they figured that nobody would find me there. They thought he would take care of me, and they thought he was kind. Unfortunately, they thought wrong. I begged them to let me just hide in the forest until the conclave was over, but Costia was afraid the elders would hunt me down and force me into the conclave. So I left with the desert clan leader, with a promise that after the conclave, they would come and get me.”

“What happened then?”

Andes eyes darkened as she remembered, “Well, he was a monster, he had everyone fooled, including Lexa and Costia. He had a trade. He had certain customers, customers who liked children. They liked to do certain things with children, and I was a beautiful child. My coloring was rare, exotic. And I wasn’t the only one he had, he had some boys and a couple more girls. They would pay Sarnos for the right to spend time with us, do whatever they wanted, within reason. They weren’t supposed to do anything that would leave a mark, a scar.“ Andes was now just staring ahead, looking at nothing , lost in her memories.  
Clarke shuddered. This girl who seemed so light and carefree, hiding a lot of darkness below the surface .

“He taught me things that no ten year old should be taught. But first he had to break me. I was a stubborn little kid. I guess you could say he tortured me, more mental than physical, because he didn’t want to damage the goods.” Andes made a motion with her finger around her face. “It went on for months, my defying him, him beating me or starving me. Eventually, I figured the only way I could get away, was to let him think that he broke me. So I finally gave in. Pretended I was beaten down enough to do what he wanted. He never fully trusted me, though, so I was kept naked and chained up, which is how I spent 2 years of my life.”

Clarke reached over and touched the scars on Andes’ wrists, “So that’s where these came from.” It was a statement, not a question, because there could be no other explanation, the scars were thick and angry looking. They were the one blemish on her body.

Andes nodded as she looked down at Clarke’s hand on hers; she was absently rubbing her thumb over the rough patches of skin. It sent little shivers down her spine. “I will never be shackled or tied up again, I’ll tell you that.”

“He’s the clan leader you killed, isn’t he?” Clarke asked as she gently let go of Andes wrists. Andes missed her touch immediately.

“Yes.” She took a deep breath then continued. “I hated him with every fiber of my being. But I had to wait, I had to be patient. So I bided my time. I made myself stronger. One night, it was really late, he came in, and he had been drinking, really drinking. He left the door open behind him and I could see the keys to my chains around his waist, next to his dagger. He was so drunk he was having trouble standing, so when he turned away from me to take off his shirt, I came up behind him and wrapped the chains around his neck and pulled and pulled, and pulled. I didn’t care what happened, I would either die trying or I’d be free. He tried to swing me off, but I was stronger than he thought. He finally lost consciousness and fell down. I took his dagger and I stabbed him in the heart. Took the keys, unlocked myself, went to the other rooms and unlocked the doors, freed us all. We ran. After a day or so, we all decided it was best if we went our separate ways, since it would be harder to track us that way. I knew it was safer for them to be away from me. His sons would find the body in my room, so they would know who killed their father. And they were not forgiving people. That was eight summers ago.” Andes took a breath. “So, I still have a price on my head after all this time. Punishment for killing a clan leader is death by a thousand cuts. It’s a crime that’s recognized across all clans. Whoever would find me could turn me in to be killed.”

Clarke shuddered again at the thought of what would happen if someone ever caught Andes. “So, wait, why didn’t Costia and Lexa come back for you?”

“I was told they did, but when they showed up, they were told I ran away months before. So they left.”

“How did you find out that they came for you?”

“I had one woman who would, ah, visit me. She was actually kind. I never minded when she would come. She’s the one who also told me about Costia’s death. She told me how she died. Danko, that son of bitch, he’s the one who killed her. Under Nia’s orders of course. And make no mistake, I will kill him someday. He actually visited me when I was at Sarnos. He called me his little sparrow.”

“Oh god,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I even want to hear this.”

“He was a choker. It’s how he got off. The last time he showed up, he almost killed me, and Sarnos would have none of that. I couldn’t talk for a week after that one, he must have damaged my vocal cords or something. “

Clarke was horrified. So the sexy voice was not something she was born with, he had probably caused permanent damage. “How do you survive something like that? All that suffering?”

“You can survive anything if you put your mind to it. I feel stronger because of it. “

“But when you’re that young, how did you, how did you?”

Andes knew what Clarke was asking, “You close your mind off and go somewhere else until it’s over. You learn to detach yourself, emotionally detach yourself from the situation. Probably why I’ve never fallen in love, I’m probably still emotionally detached.” She said with a small smile. “Ok, let’s change the subject. I never told anyone that before, now I know why, sounds so depressing.”

Clarke didn’t know what to say after that. She once again reached out and touched Andes, squeezed her hand. She tried to change the subject a little.

“Did you ever try and see Lexa again? Maybe she could have pardoned you, or something.”

“I actually did see her a few years ago. I met up with Indra while they were on patrol, and asked to see Lexa. I knew Indra was very discreet. She was one of our teachers, and she always had a soft spot for me.”

“Indra, a soft spot? Can’t picture that,“ Clarke said with a small smile. “Were you her second?”

“No, no, I wasn’t that advanced to be somebody’s second. Luna was Indra’s second, and Lexa was Anya’s second and nobody wanted me, so they all got stuck with me. You know, it takes a village, when you’ve got to raise the village idiot. Who was me.”

Clarke smiled at that, “You’re no idiot.”

“Well, to them I was. They thought something was wrong in my head. They wanted to destroy stuff, and I wanted to build stuff.”

“I met Anya. She was tough as nails.”

“Anya, yes, she couldn’t stand me, she just tied me to tree and left me there, out of her hair.” Andes laughed at the memory, “yeah, those were fun times.”

“So, did Indra bring Lexa to you?” Clarke asked.

“Yes.” That day was still a painful memory for Andes, seeing Lexa again after all that time. Andes remembered it vividly.

_Andes heard them approaching, and she was a little nervous, she wasn’t sure of what the reaction would be upon seeing Lexa. She was sitting against a tree when they both came into the clearing. Andes stood up and waited for Lexa to walk over. Indra nodded to Lexa, then turned and left them alone. Lexa’s face looked as though she were seeing a ghost. Andes knew how much she looked like her sister. Lexa was in pain just looking at her._

_“Andes?”_

_“Yes,”_

_Lexa stepped forward and put a hand to her cheek, she just stared at Andes for a few moments, then she spoke, “my god, you look just like her.”_

_Andes felt the tears welling up in her eyes, Lexa looked the same, older, sadder, still beautiful. Finally, after a few seconds, Lexa wrapped her arms around the young girl who was so important to Costia, and to her. Andes grabbed onto Lexa like she didn’t want to let go. Now she was sobbing and Lexa just held her. She cried for her sister, for her lost childhood, for their lost family, for Lexa, who was her home, a home she could never go back to. Finally, the tears subsided. She pulled back and looked at Lexa, she leaned in and rested her forehead against hers._

_“You’re all grown up.” Lexa said, holding back her own tears. Andes just nodded her head._

_“We came to get you, they said you ran away. We looked for so long.” Lexa said shakily. “Then Sarnos was killed, and they said you did it.”_

_“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. But he deserved to die, Lex, he did. He did awful things, to me, to other kids.”_

_Lexa was sickened when she heard this. Then she felt anger, anger that someone hurt Andes._

_“Come home, I’ll find a way to protect you.”_

_Andes shook her head slowly, she knew Lexa would be in danger if she protected a known murderer. “I can’t do that to you. I won’t do that to you. I would never put you in that position.” Andes said slowly._

_Lexa closed her eyes and nodded her head slightly. Life was cruel, she certainly knew that, and here was another cruel blow, finding Andes and losing her again. She pulled back and reached around her neck to untie a leather necklace that she was wearing. At the end of the necklace was a silver rectangle._

_“Here, this is yours, it was your mother’s, from your father. Costia had given it to me on my ascension day, but it should be yours, I want you to have it.”_

_“Lexa, I can’t take this from you, Cos gave it to you.”_

_Lexa would not take no for an answer and she tied it around Andes neck. “I have other things to remember her by.”_

_Andes looked at the silver piece and turned it over. There were letters on the backside of it, although you could tell some of it had been rubbed off over time. Andes couldn’t read it from her angle. “What does it say?”_

_Lexa leaned in and looked at it, “It says ‘Loom’, but some letters are missing at the end.”_

_“What does it mean?”_

_“I don’t know. If Costia knew, she never told me.”_

_Andes thanked her for it, holding it tightly in her hand. She knew it was time to leave, Indra had appeared again._

_Lexa pulled her in for another hug, kissed her on the cheek._

_“May we meet again.”_  
_Tears welled up again in Andes eyes, and Lexa’s eyes were wet also._

_“May we meet again.” Andes replied. With that she turned and melted back into the forest._


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> temperatures rising, smut coming next chapter

When Andes finished her story, she looked at Clarke, who was staring into the fire, her eyes filled with unshed tears. And then she knew, she knew why Clarke had such sad eyes, and her chest tightened,

“She was the love you lost, wasn’t she?”

Clarke didn’t reply, so Andes moved closer and gently wiped away a tear that had escaped from Clarke’s eyes. Clarke reached up and put her hand over Andes hand, and held it there, she leaned into it. She nodded her head slowly. Andes wondered what it would be like to have Clarke’s love, and decided Lexa had been very lucky.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Clarke said, taking a deep breath.

“That’s ok.” Andes paused for few seconds. “Did she love you?” Clarke nodded again, remembering how Lexa looked at her, so unguarded when they were alone. Remembering how she tried so hard to make it up to Clarke, make it up to her for abandoning her at Mt. Weather. Clarke knew Lexa loved her, because her actions spoke so much louder than words.

Andes moved and sat next to Clarke and put her arm around her. Clarke rested her head on Andes shoulder, and Andes put her head on Clarke’s. They stayed like that for a few moments.

“I guess we’re both a little broken.” Andes said. She rubbed her hand up and down Clarke’s arm, trying to soothe her. “But maybe there’s hope for us. I would never have thought that Lexa would have opened her heart to someone else, but she did. She found you.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad, why would I be mad?”

“Because she was your sister’s lover, her partner, her soulmate. “

“Costia’s gone, Clarke. To expect Lexa to be alone for the rest of her life would have been asking too much. Nobody should be alone, everyone deserves love.”

“Says the girl who lives alone and has never been in love.”

“I’m different, I’m seriously broken, you’re just a little broken, you’re fixable. A little tape, a little glue, fix you right up.” Clarke smiled at that.

“You’re not broken Andes, maybe you just haven’t found the right person yet.”

“Maybe. Although seeing what you’re going through, love doesn’t look very fun.”

Clarke didn’t have an answer for that one. She looked across the fire where the dogs were laying, all with their heads on their front paws. “I think we’ve depressed your dogs.”

“No, you’re right, they’re wolves.”

“Well, don’t tell them that,” Clarke said softly. Andes smiled at that, and she kissed the top of Clarke’s head. Now what made her do that? Maybe because she felt very close to her right now. It was just the moment she told herself. This moment was very intimate. Tomorrow things would be back to normal.

“Do you feel better?” Andes asked.

Clarke nodded her head. She felt warm with Andes so close. She reached out her hand and picked up Andes necklace, “this is the necklace that Lexa gave you? The one from Costia?” she asked.

“My father’s yes.”

Clarke turned in over, and looked at the four readable letters, L O O M. “Loom, I wonder what it means?” Andes just shrugged. “Shame the other letters rubbed off.”

“Yep, it’s a mystery I guess.” Andes insides were churning a little from being so close to Clarke, so she got up and spread the furs on the ground so they could go to sleep. She whistled for Jaks, wondering if she should ask Clarke if she wanted to share again. She took off her clothes and lay down, pulled a fur on top of herself, nestled her head into Jaks side. She was surprised when Clarke got up, and pushed her furs closer to Andes, and lay down on her back next to her, her head sharing the dog’s softness.

Clarke felt a little restless. She turned on her side and looked at Andes. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For understanding, all this stuff.”

Andes smiled, and Clarke just looked at her. She saw tenderness in those gray eyes. Clarke turned over and scooted closer, her back facing Andes now. They weren’t touching, but they could both feel the warmth of the other’s body. Clarke wasn’t tired yet, “Andes, tell me a story.”

Andes was feeling it now, Clarke laying next to her, smelling her hair. And now she wanted a story. “What kind of story?”

“I don’t know, tell me a story about when you were young, and how they found out you were a nightblood.”

“Ok, I’ll start at the beginning, though. When my mom was alive, it was just the three of us. We were a happy little family. We were like gypsies. Remember when I told you I was from nowhere?” She saw Clarke nod, “well, it’s because we really were. We moved around a lot, from village to village, my mom and sister made necklaces, jewelry, ornamental stuff, they were very artistic. We never really had a home where we always went back to. We never were part of a clan, just nomads wandering around, surviving.”

“And you never met your father, you just have his necklace?”

“Yes, never met him, at least that I can remember. Costia didn’t know him either. We supposedly had the same father, he visited my mother, well, at least twice right?” she said with a smile.

Clarke laughed, “at least twice. Unless you were conceived by osmosis.”

“Doubt that. He must have been good in bed though, two for two.”

“Yeah, must have been, evidently it runs in the family. Although that could be heresay, I mean, I wouldn’t know.”

“Yet, “ Andes said quietly, flirting her ass off.

Clarke turned, “What, did you say?” She smiled to herself, she thought she knew what she said, but wasn’t quite sure.

“Nothing.” Andes was ready to kiss Clarke’s shoulder, she was so close, she leaned in, but thought better of it and buried her head in Jaks side instead, groaned a little.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Jaks smells.”

“Is it him? I was thinking it was you.” Clarke was teasing her now.

“Not me,” Andes reached over and stuck her arm under Clarke’s nose, “Is it?”

Clarke inhaled, she smelled sun, a little sweat, she smelled like the outdoors, she smelled good. “Nope, not you.”

Andes scooted a little closer, hoping Clarke didn’t notice, her hair smelled like sunshine, if that was possible, it was intoxicating , driving her a little nuts. And she didn’t mind if she had to exercise a little self control tonight, self control built character, didn’t it?

“Continue please,” Clarke said.

“Oh, sorry. So, we’ve established the fact that I did have two parents, right?”

“Yes, that has been established. Get on with it.” Clarke said, feigning impatience.

“Ok, geez, just trying to drag it out a little, make me more interesting.”

“You don’t have to drag it out, you’re very interesting without the dragging out part.” Andes smiled again, and was itching to put her arm around Clarke now, pull her close and bury her face in her hair.

“So, my mother looked nothing like Costia and myself, she had dark hair, dark eyes. We got our coloring from our father, at least that’s what she said, that’s why we knew we had the same one. Father that is. My mom talked about him, said he was special, that he wasn’t like anybody else, wasn’t like any of the other grounders. She said that he said that he was from someplace far away. I wish I could have met him, I wish he had known me.”

“How old were you when your mom died?”

“Three I think.”

“Wait, so how do you remember her so well, how do you remember conversations with her?” Clarke turned her head to ask this question, now noticing how close Andes was. She turned back and felt a warmth grow inside her. It was pleasant. She laid her head back down, waiting for Andes answer.

“I don’t know, I just do. Why, don’t you remember stuff when you were young?”

“Not that young, my god. I don’t think anybody remembers stuff when they were that young.”

“Well, I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“You’ve got a weird brain.” Clarke said.

“I told you I was weird. Well, I didn’t use that word, but I told you I was different.”

“You did. Continue.”

“Ok, so, where was I?”

“You were gypsies, you were from nowhere, your father wasn’t around, but he evidently had potent sperm the two times he did show up, he was a weirdo like you, you sold stuff to stay alive.”

Andes started giggling now, Clarke’s summary was cute and funny, and she did what she thought she shouldn’t do, but did it anyway, she reached her arm around Clarke and pulled her closer, kept her arm there, too. And Clarke let her keep it there, she pushed her butt back into Andes and sighed, enjoying the warmth. There were still furs between their bodies, Andes figured she shouldn’t push it too much, shouldn’t let her naked body interact with Clarke in anyway, cause then she might lose it for sure.

“So, my mom got sick one day. We took her to a village healer, but they couldn’t help her. She died about a week later.”

“I’m sorry Andes.” Clarke said, turning to look at her again.

“Thank you. It was a long time ago, but thanks. After she died, Costia took care of me. We kept the same lifestyle, moving around constantly. We kept our hair covered all the time. It drew too much attention to us, actually, we learned that from our Mom, she told us to always keep it covered. But, one day, I didn’t have it covered, because I was stubborn and didn’t want to cover it, it was hot that day. So, I’m prancing around this village, not far from Polis, Ton DC,”

“I know Ton DC,” Clarke said.

“Yeah, well, there I was, all blond hair and gray eyes, running around with a friend that I had made the day before. We usually stayed in a village for a few days before moving on. I attracted the attention of an older boy, typical boy, all tough, all bluster, not too much older than me, so he was around 5 or 6 I guess. He wanted to know why my hair was the color it was. Started calling me names, started pushing me. It was attracting a lot of attention, more kids, more adults gathered around watching this. I got tired of being teased and I hit him, hard. I think I broke his nose actually, cause blood spurted out of it. Well, his friends didn’t take too kindly to me hitting him, so two of them came after me at once, they swung at me a couple times, but I avoided it, cause that’s what I do. But then a third boy joined in, and he managed to hit me in the face, I started to bleed, and that was it. Everyone saw the black blood. Costia finally showed up and rushed over to me, trying to get me out of there. But now we were surrounded by people. They took us to the village leader, and it was decided that I needed to go to Polis, to enter the nightblood training. And that’s how I ended up in Polis, learning how to become a commander.”

“Wow, that’s some story.”

“Still think I’m interesting?” Andes asked, fishing for a compliment.

“Very.” Clarke enjoyed the story a lot, but now she started to yawn.

“So interesting that it’s putting you to sleep?” Andes teased.

“No, it’s not the story, it’s the warmth. You generate a lot of body heat. You and Jaks.”

“Oh, ok. As long as you don’t think I’m boring.”

“God, you’re anything but.” Clarke said sleepily, yawning again. “So you were nightblood, but Costia wasn’t?”

“Yes. But that wasn’t unusual. There were kids that I trained with who had siblings who weren’t nightblood.”

They were both quiet now, and Clarke was having trouble keeping her eyes open now, “I think I gotta go to sleep now, maybe we can finish the story tomorrow?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good night Andes, “

“ _Reshop_ Clarke.” Andes laid awake for a while, enjoying the feeling of Clarke so near, felt her fall asleep, listened to her even breathing. Finally sleep found her.

When Clarke woke up the next morning, her head was on the ground. Jaks must have gotten up at some point to go hunt. She looked down, Andes had her arm across Clarke’s stomach and her head was next to Clarke’s shoulder, their feet were tangled up. Clarke felt the heat from her naked body, and just lay there for a bit. She didn’t want to disturb Andes. She just wanted to enjoy the closeness. She hadn’t felt this type of contact in a long time. Hugs from Abby didn’t count.

Eventually, she felt Andes stirring, and she looked down to see her eyes crack open. Her hair was so tousled, she looked less goddess-like and it was adorable.

Slowly Andes realized where her limbs were, “Oh, sorry Clarke,”

She went to pull away but Clarke held her arm. “No, it’s ok.”

Andes looked at her, and lazily smiled, “well, in that case, “ she moved her head to Clarke’s chest and pulled her tighter. She heard Clarke’s heart beat, heard it beat a little faster. Andes sighed happily. She really liked Clarke, and she was going to enjoy this moment to the fullest.

The sun was coming up now and Clarke knew they had to get up and move. She also knew that Andes naked proximity was making her feel a little hot in all the wrong places.

“Ok, sleepy head, we have to get up.”

Andes groaned, “But you’re so comfortable Clarke.”

“We do have people chasing us, remember?”

Andes picked her head up and smiled at Clarke. She rolled off and lay on her side, her head in her hand. Clarke said a silent thank you to the sex gods that the furs were covering most of her nakedness. Andes took her index finger and started to slowly run it up and down Clarke’s exposed forearm. Clarke looked at Andes, but she was watching her finger and not looking at Clarke.

“You know, Clarke, the offer still stands.” She then took her finger and went up to Clarke’s shoulder, and across her collar bone. She watched the pulse in Clarke’s neck start beating faster.

“You need to stop.” Andes looked up at Clarke, who was trying to look stern, but had the hint of a smile playing around her lips.

“Stop what?” Andes asked innocently.

Clarke shook her head and sighed. Still holding back a smile, “what offer was that?”

“Let me satisfy your needs. Let me take your pain and worry away, for a few hours. Let me be your, um, friend with benefits.”

Clarke stared at Andes, still smiling. “Really? Is that your new pick up line now?”

“Maybe. I like it.”

“Well, maybe you’re not the one who can satisfy my needs.” Clarke replied playing devil’s advocate.

“Hm, “ Andes placed her finger on Clarke’s pulse point, it was beating faster now, “This tells me different, Clarke.” Her deep voice a little seductive, sending shivers down Clarke’s spine.

Now their eyes were locked. Clarke couldn’t look away from those smoky gray eyes, because now they were turning darker, like storm clouds. Andes started leaning forward, and Clarke knew she was going to kiss her. And Clarke panicked. She panicked because her body wanted it, and she felt totally betrayed by that. She rolled away and onto her feet. Andes kept moving forward and ended up face down in the furs, groaning. Clarke laughed at that. She threw her fur over top of Andes head.

“You need to get up.” Andes rolled over and gave Clarke a most pained look. “Beja, please Clarke, don’t leave me like this,”

“There’s a nice cold creek out there just waitin’ for ya.”

Andes laughed, “Ok, ok. You wound me Clarke,” she said dramatically, with a hand over her heart.

“I’ll wound you. Now get your ass up.”

Clarke stepped outside and took some deep breaths, trying to still her heart. It was definitely pounding. What was she, some sex crazed, whatever? She knew she found Andes sexually attractive, my god, who wouldn’t. That was probably all this was, just lust. It’s been a while for Clarke, been a while since she felt that release. Maybe Andes was right, the body had needs and down here on the ground, you should take it when you could. Who knows if you’d be alive the next day. She was going to give herself a break for getting all hot and bothered. It wasn’t a big deal. Clarke turned around in time to see Andes, naked as the day she was born, walking out and heading to the creek. The girl had absolutely no inhibitions. Clarke followed her with her eyes, then caught herself and cursed. Shit, c’mon Clarke, you’ve seen naked bodies before, nothing special here. Well, maybe a little special. Maybe Clarke needed to visit the creek too.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flirty fun banter, smut, might be a little long, but i didn't want to break it up

They continued south, south west, for a few hours, heading towards Andes home. It wasn’t far now. She looked up in the sky, concern on her face, “I don’t know, I think we have a storm coming.” Clarke looked up and noticed black storm clouds gathering to the east. “Maybe we should pick up the pace a little.” Clarke agreed and they started walking faster. Andes could tell the dogs were agitated, sensing the coming storm. The wind picked up and the clouds were getting closer, lightning flashing inside them. The rain started about a half hour later, really pelting down. 

“How much further?” Clarke asked, as she shielded herself from the driving storm. 

“Not much, just over that ridge.” Now they started running, lightning was flashing all around them, the thunder claps were deafening. Andes stopped in front of a thick stand of low trees. Clarke thought they had arrived at her house, but she looked around and didn’t see anything that looked like a home. Andes started pulling branches back, and slowly revealed a door. She quickly opened it and ushered in Clarke and the dogs. They stumbled inside, soaking wet and cold. Andes shut the door behind them and threw a latch across it. She turned and found Clarke looking around in wonderment. 

“What is this place?” she asked incredulously. 

“Welcome to my home.” She set about lighting candles, taking down furs that were covering actual windows, letting in the natural light, the storm raging outside. 

“I don’t believe it, it’s like being in a museum. This is a house from pre-nuke earth. How did you ever find it?” 

Andes came and stood in front of her, handed her a towel. “I just stumbled onto it one day. It was totally covered by brush, and I was up in the tree, I looked down and I saw the glass of the window. So, curious creature that I am, I climbed down and started cutting away the brush. Then I found the front door. Pried it open, and it was like everything in here was preserved. It was pretty air tight. I figured it was some kind of shelter, maybe a storm shelter?”

“Or bomb shelter, but you would think it would have been underground if it was that.” Clarke said. Her hair was sticking up a little from toweling it dry, and Andes reached out and smoothed it back down, Clarke tingled a little at the touch.

“I’ve come across a lot of places like this in my travels. It’s actually kinda sad. Lots of times, there’s pictures of families and stuff, sad.” 

Clarke walked away a little, needing to put a little space between them, it was getting a little warm, and it had nothing to do with being inside. “This place must have been outside the impact zone. “ She looked around. It was one large room. Andes bed was against one wall. There was a fireplace, an actual couch, a table and chairs, a kitchen area, with a stove, sink, and fridge. And all across one wall were scores of books, stacked one on top of the other, and magazines, old ones, from before the nuclear war.

“Do you want to see the best thing about this place?” Andes asked. Clarke nodded, still taking it all in. Andes walked over to the sink, turned on the faucet, and actual water came out. 

“Holy shit, holy shit, running water?” 

Andes nodded and grinned. “There’s a pump.” 

“How does the pump work?” 

“Solar panels.” 

“How the hell do you know about solar panels?” 

“I read about it, and there were instructions, here, “ and she pulled out a book and a manual. Clarke took the manual from her, paged through it. 

“So let me get this straight, you read the manual, you read this book, and you threw a switch and the pump worked. “ 

“God no, this isn’t fantasy land Clarke, some of the parts outside were bad, so I had to search around for replacements. “ 

Clarke looked at her in disbelief. “I’m sorry, this is just blowing my mind.” 

Andes laughed. “It’s really not that complicated. Look, when I found the place, I searched the whole outside of it, found the panels on the roof, traced the wires down to that box. Didn’t think anything of it at first, I had no idea what it was. Came across the book and the manual, then I started figuring things out. Knew some of the parts must have been bad, so I went out to other places that I knew of, that were like this, pulled the parts off, brought them back here, plugged them in til it worked. See not that complicated. Now this didn’t happen in, like, a day, it took a long time, months.” 

“God, you’re a fucking brainiac.”

“Fucking brainiac?”

“Yeah, seriously super smart. Wow, I guess I didn’t even consider that you could read. I know Lexa could read.” 

“Oh, all the nightbloods were taught to read. I love to read. Another reason I wasn’t at training, I was up in a tree reading.”

“And you’ve read some of these books?”

“I’ve read all of them.”

“All of them? There must be a thousand books here.” 

“In case you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of time on my hands.” 

“Where did you get them all?”

“I would find them when I was scouting around, scavenging for parts.”

Clarke pulled a few titles off the shelf, some novels, some classics that she remembered. “Hm, “ 

“What?”

“Now I know why you have the vocabulary that you do, it’s from reading all this. I couldn’t figure out why you talked the way you do. You talk different, different than any grounder, you talk more like Skaikru, it’s because of this.” She waved her hand at all the books. She looked over at Andes, “So, I suspect when you acted like you didn’t know certain words, you probably did know, am I right? Sex, love, suck, etcetera, etcetera, you knew.” 

“Guilty.” Andes was smiling now, “Now, don’t forget Clarke, that we had just met, and I had to act like you expected me to act. And you are so cute when you try to explain something. “

“Oh, don’t try to distract me with compliments, that wasn’t very nice, you acting clueless, “ Clarke said, but the compliment resonated within her, making her warm inside.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, I promise. Here, drink this, it will make your insides nice and toasty,” handing her a glass with some bronze looking liquid in it.

“What is it? Some kind of moonshine, homemade moonshine?” She took a sip and liked it, it did go down pretty smooth, after it burned it throat. She started to finish the rest of it.

“Take it easy Clarke, that stuff is strong.” Andes said as Clarke drained the glass. “That’s some good grounder ale right there.” 

Clarke just noticed another door, walked over to it, opened it and found a bathroom, complete with toilet, sink, and shower. “Oh c’mon. Don’t even tell me this works,” she reached out and flushed the toilet. Watched the water go down, and looked at Andes. 

Andes held her hands up in the air, “Now, I must confess, I have no idea where that water goes.”

“So, you could be, like, literally, shitting all over the place out there.” Andes started laughing at that, and then Clarke started laughing, both with that mental image in their heads.

Andes was holding her sides, “Oh my god, that was funny.” Sighing, “I better start paying attention to where I walk,” Andes said. Clarke started laughing all over again. 

After calming down, Clarke walked around some more, checking out the book shelves, and found a deck of cards. “Oh, now we’re talking. Do you know what these are, brainiac?” 

“Cards, but I don’t know any games for those. And I hate to break it to you, but grounders have cards, not exactly like these, but similar. We’re not total cavemen.” Clarke didn’t looked convinced. “ Hey, are you cold? I mean, we are soaking wet, we should get out of these clothes.” 

“Oh that was smooth, do you use that line on your ‘friends’, “ Clarke put quotes around the word, now starting to feel loose and relaxed, probably the ale.

“No, should I? Would that work?” 

“Well, you’d have to hose them down first I guess, then it might work.” Andes giggled, both feeling a little loose now.

Andes pulled out some clean clothes for both of them, walked over and handed them to Clarke, “here, I think they should fit.” 

“Thank you,” 

Andes proceeded to strip off what little clothing she had on, right in front of Clarke. Naked as could be except for Costia’s necklace, she looked up to see Clarke’s eyes on her. Clarke pointed at her, made a little circle with her finger, “That’s kinda nice.” 

Andes smiled that wicked smile, “Thank you Clarke, I’m glad you like it, let me know if you ever want to, you know, reach out and touch anything.”

“Oh, I will.” Clarke was feeling quite flirty at the moment. Must be that home brew. Yeah, right. It had nothing to do with the perfect ten standing in front of her. She started taking off her shirt.

“Don’t you want me to turn around?”

“Really? Like you didn’t take a long look when I was sound asleep next to the pond.”

“Guilty again.” Andes said as she pulled a shirt on. 

Clarke stripped down, and Andes couldn’t look away. “You could make it less obvious, you know.” Clarke said not even looking at her, but sensing the girl was staring. 

“Sorry.” Clarke looked up now, “But that’s pretty nice too,” making the same motion that Clarke made. Clarke was amazed that she didn’t blush, she was getting bold. She straightened up, fully dressed now. “How about I teach you some card games?”

“Ok, I like to win card games.” 

Clarke looked at her with mock surprise, “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re cocky as hell?”

“Yes.” Andes locked onto Clarke’s eyes, held her gaze for a few seconds, her grin slowly widening. “They have.” 

Clarke returned the stare, now it became a game to see who would blink first. Clarke saw Andes eyes darken and knew what that meant, knew where her thoughts were going. “Do you want to play cards, or just sit and stare at me all night.”

Andes hestitated, like she really was contemplating staring at Clarke all night. The thought was intriguing. “Let’s play.”

“Ok,” Clarke broke the stare, Andes was just too intense, she felt burned.

They sat down at the table, glasses refilled with ale. Clarke shuffled the cards, then showed Andes how to shuffle. On her first try she sent them all over the floor, expressing her frustration with a Trig curse, she was used to being good at everything right away. 

“Rookie,” Clarke said with a small smile. “Oh, let me enjoy this moment of your incompetence, before you master it.” 

And sure enough, on the next shuffle she did it flawlessly, giving Clarke a knowing look. “Who’s a rookie now?” Clarke quietly laughed, and shook her head, Andes was, she didn’t even know what she was anymore. 

“Ok, I’ll teach you poker.” And she proceeded to explain the rules, showing her the different cards, laying them out and matching them up, showing which combinations were the best. They played a hand with all the cards showing, and then Andes thought she was ready for the real thing. Clarke dealt their hands, and they began the game.

“You know, when I was on the ark, we used to play strip poker.” 

“What’s that?”

“When you lose a hand, you take off a piece of clothing.”

Andes raised her eyebrows, eyes on her cards, “sounds fun.”

“Yeah, not that we would do that here, I mean, no need, we’ve seen everything,”

“Oh yeah, we’re way beyond that.” Andes said, concentrating on her hand. She made her bet, Clarke called, and Andes laid her cards on the table. She beat Clarke.

“Fuck!”

Andes started laughing.

“It’s your first hand, your first game, and you beat me.”

“Yes, sorry.” She tapped her head, “brainiac, remember? Oh, fucking brainiac I think it was.”

“Fuck.” Clarke said with pretend disgust.

“Now that’s an interesting word.” Andes said as she started to shuffle and deal a new hand.

“Fuck?” Clarke asked.

“Yes, it seems to have many meanings.”

“Oh it does, it’s quite versatile. I guess you’ve come across it in your books?” Andes nodded. Clarke continued, “yeah, well, it can be a verb, a noun, an adjective, not many words can do that. There’s the noun, ‘that was a good fuck’.” 

“Very crude, “ Andes said, arranging her cards in her hand.

“Agreed, very crude, then an adjective, ‘fucking awesome,’ or ‘fucking awful’, probably the biggest use. The verb, to fuck, let’s fuck, also crude, but maybe a turn on for some. And let’s not forget the religious version, holy fuck. Raven drops the F bomb all over the place.” 

“The F bomb? I like that. All in.” 

“Oh, you’d probably love Raven. You remind me of her. Call.” 

The cards came out, and Andes won again. She looked at Clarke, “Fuck, right?” 

Clarke laughed, although she wasn’t laughing when she lost 4 games in a row.

“You know,” Andes said, “if we were playing strip poker, you’d be naked right now.”

Clarke was shuffling the deck, looking over at her, nodded, “uh huh,” and started flicking cards at Andes. 

Andes ducked away from them, knocking them down with her hands “nope,” “nope,” “nope,” she kept saying as the cards kept missing her. 

Finally Clarke threw the whole deck at her. Now they were laughing, and Andes started throwing them back. Clarke found herself staring at the muscles in Andes shoulders, the way they were flexing. Jesus, she was attracted to this girl. She bit her lip and tried to calm herself down, calm the storm that was raging inside her now. She wanted her bad, she realized. Not knowing what to do about it, best to keep herself distracted by other things. “Let’s try blackjack,”

“The cards are all over the floor, “

“Well, as the winner at poker, it is your job to pick them all back up.”

“Somehow, I don’t think it works that way.” Andes said as she began crawling all over, gathering them up.

Clarke had a hold of herself now, and showed Andes how to play blackjack. She played the dealer. Soon Andes was winning every hand there to. 

“How are you doing that?” 

“Well, there are 52 cards in a deck of cards, 4 of everything, so I just count what’s been played. “ 

“So, you’re counting cards.” 

“Yes.”

Clarke shook her head, then leaned across the table and looked deep into Andes eyes, “are you some sort of alien? Or android?” 

Andes leaned in towards Clarke, staring back at her, “no, I’m not. I’m just a brainiac.” Now they were inches from each other. What started as innocent suddenly turned a whole lot hotter. 

Too hot for Clarke, she moved back in her chair, needing to break this connection, stop this sexual momentum. “I’m starving, do we have anymore food left from last night?” 

“As a matter of fact, we fucking do, “ that got a smile out of Clarke. Andes got up and brought it out. They ate in silence. 

“Pretty fucking good, “ Clarke said. 

“Fuck yes,“ and they both started giggling.

The rain was still coming down in buckets. Clarke wanted to try out the shower, so she grabbed her towel and headed for the bathroom. 

“Let me know if you need any help, like your back washed or anything.” Andes called to her. 

“I think I’m good, thanks.” She closed the door, put her towel down, took off her clothes and turned on the water, not bad pressure. And it wasn’t freezing, it was a little warm. Seriously? she poked her head back out the door, “seriously, warm water?”

Andes shrugged, “There’s a heater that I hooked up to the solar panel box.”

“Of course you did.” She said as she shut the door. The shower felt good after bathing in creeks and ponds for the last week. The same soap was in here, and she had to admit, she liked the smell of it, because that’s what Andes smelled like. Oh boy, she was in trouble. She lathered up her hair, rinsed it and turned off the water. She got out, dried herself off, toweled off her hair again. When she came out, Andes took her turn. Clarke heard a howl from the bathroom, she poked her head in the door, “What happened?” 

“I think you used all the warm water.” 

“Oops, sorry.” 

“That’s ok, I’m getting used to cold showers, “ Clarke smirked and shut the door.

When Andes came out of the shower Clarke was reading an old magazine. Andes got dressed, and started picking up their wet clothes from earlier. As she picked up Clarke’s jacket, something fell out, a box of some sort, with a design on the front. It looked like a sideways number eight to Andes. “Clarke, what’s this?”   
She held the box out to Clarke. 

Clarke jumped off the couch and took the box from Andes. “Oh my god, don’t open that.” 

“I wasn’t going to open it, I was just wondering what it was.”

Clarke looked at her for a minute, “It’s the flame.”

Andes looked at her, taking a minute to process it, realization showing on her face, “the flame? You mean the commander’s flame? The flame is a box?”

“No, the flame is in the box.” Clarke sat on the couch and motioned Andes over to sit next to her. She carefully opened the box and took out the chip.

“I don’t get it, what is it?”

“What it actually is, well, it’s like a computer chip, remember how we talked about computers, artificial intelligence, all that stuff?” Andes nodded, “Well, this is like a tiny computer, a tiny AI. When Lexa died, Titus removed it from the back of her neck.”

“You mean it was inside her?”

“Yes. And it can only be implanted in a Natblida. If anyone else tried to take it, it fries their brain. If I tried to implant it in myself, it would kill me.”

“How do you implant it?”

“You have to say a key phrase, once the key phrase is spoken, the chip opens up, and these probes come out, like tentacles, and it implants itself into the nightblood’s neck at the base of the skull, I guess attaching to the spinal cord, or maybe even going up into the brain.”

“And it only opens with the key phrase?”

Clarke nodded. Andes reached for it and Clarke let her look at it. And as Andes lifted it closer to her eyes, the chip opened and the probes extended, Andes yelled and Clarke grabbed the chip from her, “quia nunc vale.” The chip closed up. 

“Jesus Clarke, you said it wouldn’t open without the key phrase!” 

“It shouldn’t, there’s no way it should have. Titus explained everything to me, I don’t understand what just happened.”

“You keep that thing away from me. My brain is screwed up enough without some AI attaching to it.”

Clarke put the chip back in the box and closed the lid, put it back in her jacket pocket. When she looked at Andes, she still looked spooked. “It’s away, don’t worry.”

“That thing is scary.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. Hm. “

“What?”

“Maybe you’re the one, “ Clarke said with a smile. 

“What do you mean?”

“When Titus was telling me about the flame, he said there was a legend among his people. A chosen one. Someone who would become one with the flame. The flame is supposed to enhance the person it melds with, become one with them.”

“Didn’t it meld with Lexa?”

“I don’t think so. She said she could feel the commanders that came before her, sometimes they would come to her in her dreams. But other than that, she never mentioned feeling that much different when she took the flame.”

“Well, I am not the one, I want nothing to do with it. So keep it in your pocket over there, away from my neck, please.”

Clarke started laughing, “don’t worry, I won’t sneak it out in the middle of the night or anything. It will be consensual next time.“

“What do you mean next time?” Andes asked.

“Well, I thought I could force Luna to take it. I was going to just say the phrase and let it go. Needless to say that didn’t go over too well.”

Andes started laughing. “Oh, she threw you down, didn’t she?”

“Oh, she threw me down alright.”

“Threw you right the hell down,”

“I went down before you could say the word down.” 

Andes was really laughing now, picturing all this. She was remembering her run-ins with Luna, on the practice fields, “Luna was quite the fighter, would not want to face her in hand to hand combat.”

“Yeah, did not know that, now I do.” Now they were both laughing. And while Andes watched Clarke laugh, her only thought was that she wanted to kiss the shit out of her, right now, right here, just grab her and kiss her so hard, wondering if she would ever get the chance.

Now that they were both clean, and the flame was safely tucked away, they were relaxing on the couch. Clarke was doing a crossword puzzle that she found in an old paper. “Oh, I forgot,” Andes said as she got up. She went to her pack and pulled out the last piece of cake.

Clarke’s eyes lit up when she saw it. “Oh, the cake.” She said almost reverently. “You’re gonna share, right?”

“Why should I share?” Andes asked, as she started breaking off little pieces and putting them in her mouth. She closed her eyes, exaggerating how good it was.

“Because that’s the right thing to do. Because, I’m your guest, and you should take care of your guests.” Clarke reached for it, but Andes pulled her arm away, held it above her head.

“A guest who used all the warm water.”

Clarke reached again, and Andes held her off with her other arm. “A guest who almost stuck a probe into my brain.”

“You need to give me a piece of that, or I’m gonna lose my shit.” 

“Did you flush the toilet? Then you’re shit’s already lost.”

“l’ll fight you for it.”

“Oh Clarke, that doesn’t seem like much of a fair fight, “ Andes said condescendingly. Her arm was still above her head, holding that treasured piece of cake. Clarke eyed her up, 

“You ticklish?” and before Andes could answer, Clarke grabbed at her sides and tickled the crap out of her. Andes screamed and her arms came down to protect herself, laughing and squirming to get away from Clarke’s fingers. Too late, she realized the cake was gone and Clarke was sitting back enjoying a few bites.

“Mmmmm. Delicious. Your future wife is quite the baker.”

Andes sat with her arms around her waist, looking mortally wounded. “That was quite the sneak attack, Clarke.”

“Yeah, your mind’s eye must’ve been snoozing, or you would have seen that coming.” Andes was looking longingly at the cake now. “And who’d a thought that hard body of yours was so ticklish. Tsk tsk tsk. Such a shame.”

Andes sighed, sat back and picked up the magazine Clarke was reading earlier. When she looked up, half the cake was sitting in front on her. She looked at Clarke, who was smiling at her. She picked up the cake and popped it into her mouth. “Mochof, Clarke.” 

“You’re welcome.”

It was a little while later, Andes had her head buried in a book, and Clarke paged through another magazine. She felt restless, like a caged animal. It was getting late, and she should be tired by now, but she wasn’t. She thought of Andes abs, they were hard as a rock when she tickled her. She sighed. The sexual tension had been with them all day. And in this confined space, it was almost suffocating. She looked over at Andes, her hair was falling over half her face, she had her knuckle in her mouth as she read. Fucking gorgeous. Her shirt didn’t have sleeves, and Clarke admired her arms. There was a vein that ran down through the center of her bicep, and Clarke wanted to reach out and touch it. She didn’t of course. She wondered what Andes was thinking. 

What she didn’t notice was that Andes hadn’t turned a page in five minutes. She sensed Clarke’s thoughts, she felt her heat even though she was three feet away from her. She couldn’t concentrate on the pages in front of her. Clarke was flipping through the magazine, not even taking the time to read anything. Andes finally looked over at her, with a questioning look in her eyes. Clarke just stared back, not saying a word. They just stared at each other, Andes felt like she was drowning in a sea of blue, getting lost, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Each wondered if the other would make the first move. Andes put her book down, moved closer, took the magazine from Clarke’s hand and put it on the table in front of them. 

She reached across and placed a stray strand of hair behind Clarke’s ear. Clarke felt her hand brush across her cheek and her heart beat a little faster. She saw Andes eyes darken as she stared at Clarke’s mouth. She slowly leaned in to Clarke. Clarke had been waiting for this, right? She knew she was going to kiss her, and Clarke was going to let her. One little kiss couldn’t hurt, she told herself. She knew this had been building all day, all week really. A small part of her said run, but a bigger part wanted her to stay rooted in place. Clarke closed her eyes as Andes leaned in, waiting. 

Andes held up at the last minute, unsure suddenly, rejected once already, and she looked at Clarke. When Clarke opened her eyes she saw the hesitation in her face. She had made her mind up by now though, wanted to feel this, wanted to feel Andes lips, taste her breath. So she closed the space between them, and gently placed her lips on Andes. Clarke felt the tingle right down to her toes. A soft sigh escaped Andes mouth, as they slowly explored each other, lips brushing back and forth, softly, taking small breaths in between, but always coming back, tasting and exploring some more. The kisses started to deepen, Andes reached to cup Clarke’s face in her hands, taking control now. Her tongue touched Clarke’s lips, asking for entrance, and Clarke opened her mouth, and now their tongues chased each other in Clarke’s mouth. Small sounds came from deep inside both of them, small moans of pleasure. Clarke felt like she was free falling, the kisses were sending her reeling, her body craving more. Andes broke from the kiss to move a bit lower, she nuzzled Clarke’s neck, gently nipping and kissing , moving up to her ear, sucking on her lobe, moving back down to her neck , licking and kissing. She knew she was probably pushing it, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. She’d been dreaming of this moment for days now. Clarke’s breath was coming quicker now, the heat between her legs growing hotter, the tension in her stomach deepening. Andes hand slipped under Clarke’s shirt and brushed her sides. Clarke shivered at the contact. Andes pulled back to look at her. “You ok?” she asked huskily.

Clarke was breathing heavy, her eyes a deep blue, she licked her lips, “Well, I’m pretty fucking turned on right now.” Andes smiled, buried her nose in Clarke’s hair, whispered in her ear, “Must have been all that talk about solar panels, “ and Clarke laughed, this girl was too much, she grabbed her face and brought her lips back, tasting, the kisses harder, their mouths slanting across each others.

Andes stood up and pulled Clarke with her, she backed across the room holding Clarke’s hands, leading her. When the back of her legs hit the bed, she pulled Clarke close, and started kissing her again. 

Clarke pulled away and looked at her, doubt creeping in, “What are we doing?” Andes captured Clarke’s lips again, and Clarke forgot she asked the question. She had a brief internal battle, but the lust was too strong, she needed this, now. Didn’t she? More doubt.

“Should we be doing this?” Clarke pulled back and asked.

“SShh Clarke,” Andes whispered, running her tongue along Clarke’s bottom lip, “just one night. I promise I’ll make you scream with pleasure,” she said with that wicked grin. Lips taking control again.

“Oh you think I’m going to scream?” Clarke asked as they came up for air.

“I know you’re going to scream, I’ll bet you anything. Anything that….” 

Clarke pulled back and looked at her again, interrupting her, “Maybe you should stop talking and take your clothes off,” she said breathlessly, “put your money where your mouth is.” Andes had no idea what that meant but she didn’t stop to ask. She pulled her shirt over her head, and Clarke did the same, they quickly disposed of the rest of their clothing, and were standing naked in front of each other. 

They looked at each other, openly staring, allowed to stare now. One night, Clarke told herself, enjoy yourself, but that’s all you get. Clarke didn’t want to commit to anything else, she certainly didn’t want to fall in love again, ever, she didn’t want to lose someone she cared about again. Just this, just physical pleasure, she could be like Andes. “Just one night, right?” she asked. Andes nodded, she would have agreed to anything at that moment, she wanted Clarke so bad it hurt. 

Clarke’s hands reached up to tangle in Andes hair, and she looked in Andes eyes, dark now with passion and want, “Promise?” 

“I promise, “Andes said.

They both had lust in their eyes, Clarke smiled, feeling relieved, freeing herself for one night.

She playfully pushed Andes back onto the bed. “Then let’s see what you got.” Andes raised herself up on her elbows and just looked up at Clarke, drank her in, her eyes wandering all over her body. Clarke was blowing Andes mind right now. She sat back up, with her feet still on the ground, sitting on the edge of the bed, and pulled Clarke closer, she spread her hands and moved them slowly up Clarke’s side, her thumbs brushing her breasts, she moved her hands back down, and continued down Clarke’s legs, back up. Her right hand traveled up the inside of Clarke’s thigh, all the way up, until it could go no further. She groaned, “you’re wet, so wet,” she whispered softly, so softly that Clarke barely heard her and she thought she was going to lose it then, but Andes pulled her hand away, and trailed both her hands back up Clarke’s sides, stopping at her breasts. She lightly circled Clarke’s nipples. Clarke closed her eyes, with her head back, lost in the sensation. She suddenly felt Andes mouth on her, licking her nipples, gently biting them, sucking on them, over and over, first one then the other. Clarke grabbed Andes head and pulled her closer, wanting her closer. Andes’ hands were on her ass now, squeezing, and kneading, while her mouth continued to tantalize Clarke’s breasts. From behind, she slid one hand back to Clarke’s wet slit, she moved it back it forth, never touching what needed to be touched, and never going inside her. Clarke wanted to scream right then and knew she was going to lose that bet. 

Suddenly Clarke felt herself lifted up and laid back onto the bed. Andes was leaning over her, her arms on either side of Clarke. Clarke ran her hands up and down Andes arms, feeling the leanness, feeling her strength. Andes started kissing her again, driving her tongue in to Clarke’s mouth. Clarke had her hands wrapped in Andes hair, pulling her closer. Andes pulled away and looked down at Clarke, whose body was wreathing, begging for release. She kissed her way down to a spot just above her hipbone, and licked and sucked that sensitive area. Clarke pushed her hips up, needing that friction, needing it now. 

Andes ignored her plea, instead licking and sucking her way back up to Clarke’s neck, finding her ear lobe again, finding her breasts again, Clarke felt her everywhere, everywhere except where she needed her. Finally Andes moved down between Clarke’s legs, she pushed them up, bending them at the knee, spreading her apart and holding them up. She lightly bit the inside of her thighs, she straightened her leg and licked the back of her knee, she moved up and then put her tongue inside Clarke, and started thrusting in and out. Clarke was truly going out of her mind with pleasure. She was panting now. Andes tongue found Clarke’s clit, and she stabbed at it, flicking it, sucking it, then her tongue was inside her again, penetrating her, in and out. She didn’t stay in one place long enough for Clarke to come, she was teasing her, letting the pleasure build up until it exploded. “Oh god Andes, please, oh god, “ Clarke was thrusting her hips desperately now. Finally, Andes slipped her fingers inside of Clarke, and her tongue found her core and she stayed there, licking, swirling around it, thrusting her fingers harder, in and out of Clarke’s wetness. “Oh yes, oh god, “and finally Clarke’s orgasm exploded from deep within her , she did scream , she was loud and she didn’t care. She moaned with every pulse, her head thrown back, moving from side to side, riding the wave into oblivion. When the sensations finally subsided, Clarke looked down at Andes, who was still between her legs, her fingers were still inside, moving slower now. Andes was looking at Clarke now, “you still with me?” Clarke nodded, and Andes lowered Clarke’s legs to the bed. Clarke felt Andes tongue on her again, softly, since she knew she would be sensitive. Her fingers moved slower, moved deeper inside now, and Clarke felt a stab of pleasure but deep, lower than usual. She groaned again, “Oh. “ Andes tongue put a little more pressure on her clit, her fingers rubbing slowly up her front wall, searching for her sweet spot. Clarke felt the pressure start to build up again, deeper, deeper. Andes fingers were like magic now, and Clarke was going mad. She was getting close again. She stopped breathing because she was there, right at the precipice, and then the wave crashed again, it was deep and the sensation was longer, longer than before, longer than she ever felt, she couldn’t stop groaning, this orgasm seemed to go on forever. And finally it was over, and Clarke collapsed back on the bed. She couldn’t move. Andes finally removed her fingers, and kissed her way back up to Clarke’s mouth. Clarke barely had the strength to kiss her back.  
Andes pulled away and looked down at her smiling that killer sexy smile. “That ok?”

“Holy shit, Andes, what’d you do to me?” Clarke asked softly.

“Ah, I made you scream, like I promised, “ she said teasingly, reaching down to kiss her nipples again. Clarke grabbed Andes face and brought it back up to her, she needed to feel those lips again. 

“You were right, “ Clarke said against her lips. 

“Right about what?”she asked, sucking on Clarkes lower lip. 

“You are a better lover than fighter,” They both started laughing. Clarke was getting her wind back, and flipped Andes over on her back. She gazed down at her body. “God you’re beautiful, “ she said. Andes took Clarke’s hand and put it between her legs, she wanted her to feel her wetness, wanted her to feel how much she wanted her. Clarke sighed and closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through that wetness. Hot and wet. Andes groaned, purred, growled. Clarke leaned over and took a nipple in her mouth, circled it with her tongue, mouthed her breast, first one then the other. She was kneeling over Andes now, straddling her. She pulled back and ran her fingers over Andes abs, “These are my favorite,” she said breathlessly. She bent over and kissed them, each ridge, she kissed, lightly, softly. Her tongue traveled all over Andes belly. Then she took her finger and traced the vein in her bicep, trailing it down to her elbow, running it along the vein in her forearm. Her tongue followed the same path as her finger. “Clarke, “ Andes begged, “I want you so bad, please Clarke, don’t make me wait.” With that Clarke slid between her legs, and took Andes clit in her mouth and started sucking on it, then licking. Andes had her fingers tangled in Clarke’s hair, pulling her closer, wanting her, silently asking for more pressure. Clarke slipped her fingers into Andes, and moved them in and out, finding her rhythm , pressing harder with her tongue. Andes was ready, she’d been ready for while now, she tried to hold back, to enjoy Clarke’s mouth, but she felt weak, she wasn’t strong enough to hold it off, and she came hard, groaning loudly, thrusting her hips up at Clarke, who felt her contractions around her fingers, the pulsing inside, grabbing. When it was over, Andes let out a loud sigh. Clarke removed her fingers and moved up to lie next to Andes. Andes wrapped her arms around her, they were on their sides facing each other. 

They stared into each other’s eyes, kissing softly, nuzzling, basking in their shared satisfaction. Andes had her nose behind Clarke’s ear, “Was it all you imagined Clarke?” 

“Hmmm, it didn’t suck, “she said, and Andes giggled into her ear. Clarke smiled, not bothering to analyze anything that happened, she could do that tomorrow. Right now, she was going to enjoy this heavenly creature lying next to her. She traced her finger along Andes jaw line. “It was fucking fantastic.”

“Literally and figuratively, “ said Andes. It took a minute for that comment to sink in for Clarke, when she got it she laughed.

They explored each other fully that night, searching for erotic places on each other’s bodies, places that begged to be found and kissed. Finally, sleep took over. In the middle of the night, Clarke woke up from what she thought was a sex dream, only to find Andes tongue on her again. She brought her to climax quickly and moved back up to wrap her up in her arms. No words were necessary, and Clarke wondered what tomorrow would bring. And Andes wondered how she was ever going to get Clarke out of her system.


	8. Chapter 8

When Andes woke up the next morning Clarke had already left the bed. She rolled over onto her back and put her arm across her eyes. Remembering last night, every detail, she wanted to burn it into her brain so she’d never forget. The fact that Clarke was not here, enjoying Andes affection and snuggling, meant one thing. She was going to hold her to that promise, the promise of one night. She sighed, got up, and went to wash up. When she came back out, Clarke had returned.

“Sun’s out, finally.” She said. “Looks like a beautiful day.” She wasn’t sure how awkward this was going to be. She looked at Andes and Andes looked back at her, neither knowing what to say. Clarke decided that she should be the one to break the ice.

“So, last night,” she paused, “was really nice.” Oh god, was that stupid? Nice? She blew your fucking mind Clarke.

Andes knew she was struggling, and decided to help her out. “Look Clarke, I thought last night was fantastic. I realize it was a one night thing, so please, don’t feel like you have to tread lightly around me. Things are fine, let’s just go back to where we were yesterday.”

Clarke let out a big sigh of relief, smiled, “Ok good. And yes, I’m sorry, it was way more than nice, it was pretty unforgettable.” Clarke momentarily got lost in those gray eyes, swimming, the ocean, they were like the ocean. She quickly snapped herself out of it.

“See? That wasn’t hard, was it?” Andes asked. Wondering where Clarke was just then.

“No,“ Clarke laughed, so relieved, she wanted her fun friend back. 

“Now, just so we’re clear, I take my promises very seriously. So, if you ever feel the need, for another little episode like last night, it’ll have to come from you. I will lust in silence.”

Clarke laughed again. Things were going to be fine. “Noted.”

“So, let’s get you home. I think we should be at Arkadia by tomorrow.” Clarke agreed, and wondered what would happen once she was home. Would she even see Andes again? The thought of not seeing her again made her sad, and she felt a little ache inside, this one near her heart and not her belly. She would miss her friend, she told herself. She’d have to get Andes to agree to visit so they could hang out. She really wanted her to meet Raven, and her mom, and Octavia, and everybody really.

They left right after breakfast. And things did seem to be back to normal. Andes could control herself, but she did wonder what tonight would bring, their last night together. Clarke was like a burst of sunshine in her life. How would it feel to not see her every day? A lot had happened in their 6 days together. Somehow Clarke became a big part of her life, so quickly. Now she would have to walk away. She never felt lonely in all these years, but the thought of no Clarke made her feel a little lonely. She would probably feel better in week. Being away from her, things will be forgotten, words, kisses, other things. Oh god, she hoped they would be forgotten.

Early afternoon brought a warning bark from Sampson, and Andes pulled Clarke off the trail and behind cover. After a few minutes, they heard voices. Clarke turned her ear to listen, and knew she recognized the voices. “Bellamy!” Clarke got up and ran towards her friends. 

“Clarke, oh my god, Clarke?” yelled Octavia, who was there also, along with five others, they all hugged each other. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you. Everyone has been.”

“Ice nation took me, last week. They have a new king, Roan is gone.”

“Gone?”

“Dead.”

“Oh shit. How did you get away?” Octavia asked.

Clarke turned and looked for Andes, who was leaning against a tree, observing the happy reunion. 

“Andes saved me.”

They all turned to look at her. Clarke waved her over, and Andes strode forward and was introduced to everyone. Most just stared at her, she created quite the first impression. 

Bellamy was the first to speak, “Andes, thank you so much. Clarke really means a lot to a lot of people.” 

“The pleasure was all mine, “ she said, smirking a little in Clarke’s direction. 

“What clan are you from?” Octavia asked.

“I live on my own.”

“Oh. Well, you should come back with us, I’m sure we’ll be throwing a big party to welcome this one home, “ she said as she placed her arm around Clarke.

“Thank you, but I’ll pass, this time.” 

“Ok, maybe next time then.” 

“Absolutely.”

“Well, we should get you back Clarke, your mom has been crazy worried,” O said.

“Yeah, hey, give me a minute, ok? I need to say goodbye.”

“Sure, take your time.”

Clarke turned back to Andes as the others moved back down the trail. They both looked at each other, both at a loss for words. Neither was prepared for it to end this quickly, they both thought they had until tomorrow. Clarke didn’t even know how to say goodbye, she felt a little lump in her throat. The dogs came out of the woods now, sitting waiting for direction. She decided she would say goodbye to them first, giving each a hug, spending a little longer with her buddy Jaks. She stood up finally, looking at Andes.

Andes cleared her throat, “Well, Clarke kom Skaikru, you will be missed. The dogs never get my jokes, “she said, trying to insert a little humor into the moment. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back with us, for a little bit, spend a day or two?” Andes just shook her head. Clarke reached out and pulled her into a fierce hug.

“Andes, girl from nowhere, I will definitely miss you. Promise me something?” She asked as she pulled back to look at her.

“I don’t think I can take another promise Clarke, “she said, now there was sadness around her eyes. Clarke felt a little piece of her heart break. She decided sad gray eyes were the worst.

“Promise me that you’ll come visit, and promise me that if you ever need anything, I mean anything, you’ll come see me.”

“Anything Clarke?” She asked with a tiny spark returning in her eyes.

Clarke smiled at her, “Anything not already tied to another promise.”

Andes groaned, “I can’t keep up with all these promises Clarke, I’m bound to forget one of them.” 

Clarke pulled her back into her embrace, “Promise me.”

“Ok, I promise, when I need sexual release, I will come find you, “ Clarke pulled away from her again, and gave her a bit of a stern look, but she didn’t pull it off, smiling instead.

“See, I’m getting them mixed up already. Maybe I should write them down.” Clarke dropped her arms and smiled at her, taking her last look, committing her to memory. 

“May we meet again,” Clarke said, as she extended her forearm, her eyes starting to get moist.

Andes saw that Clarke’s unshed tears made her blue eyes even bluer, she wanted to kiss her, kiss her so bad. She grasped her arm instead, because of that damn promise, “Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim , may we meet again.” 

And with that, Clarke turned around and headed off down the hill to join her friends. Andes didn’t move, she watched her walk away. The dogs came and leaned against her, sensing her mood, her need for affection. When Clarke got to the bottom of the hill she turned around and looked back up. Andes was still watching her, and Clarke’s breath caught in her throat. She stood tall, shoulders straight, swords at her back, bow around her chest, she was a vision, a beautiful, strong, sexy vision. The dogs standing next to her only added to her mystique. Clarke knew that she would draw this moment, this view, put it on paper. She would draw it and she would have it forever. She raised her hand, and Andes answered in kind. They both turned away at that moment, both wondering if their paths would ever cross again, both hoping they would.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> action moves to Arkadia for a bit, slow burn.

Clarke had been back a few weeks now, falling into her old routine. She would help in the sick bay, assisting her mom, or she would travel to Polis to take care of other business. She thought of Andes often, smiling at something she had said, or some face she had made. She had hoped for a visit from her, but she never came. One morning, she woke early, her heart beating in her chest. She had just woke up from a dream, and she sat up as she tried to remember it. She couldn’t quite recall it, but she knew she saw gray eyes where there used to be green. She got out of bed and got a glass of water, wondering what the hell that meant, probably just missing her friend. 

The next day she went outside the fence to look for some herbs for her mom, since they were getting low. She wasn’t going far so she was alone. She wandered around, lost in her thoughts, still trying to recall the dream from yesterday, but it remained elusive. She bent down to pull some flowers, thinking they would look nice in her room. She was on her knees digging in the dirt, when she looked up and saw Jaks sitting nearby. “Jaks? Jaks? Come here boy.” But the dog ran off down the trail. Clarke got up and quickly followed him, but he was running and she lost him. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around. Then she spotted Sampson. She headed in his direction, and as soon as she got close, he turned and took off. She followed him, because he wasn’t running, just trotting. She finally came to a small clearing. And all the dogs were sitting there. She looked around again. She knew she was here, her heart was beating pretty hard, probably because she had just been running. 

“Clarke kom Skaikru, it’s good to see you.” Clarke whirled around, and there she was, sitting up in the first branch of a tree.

“Andes,” Clarke said excitedly, she rushed over and Andes dropped down and pulled Clarke into a big bear hug, she picked her up and twirled her a little, then put her down. 

“Whew, you know how to sweep a girl off her feet.” She threw a small punch at her shoulder. She didn’t notice that Andes had picked her up with just one arm, the other hanging limply by her side.

“Clarke, you’re looking well, as beautiful as ever, “

“I could say the same about you, “ she replied back teasingly. Then she noticed, something was wrong with Andes arm. Concern immediately written on face, she reached for Andes arm, “What happened?” Andes raised her hand, and Clarke knew it was broken, her wrist was fractured, the bone almost poking through. “Jesus Andes, when did this happen?”

“Two days ago.” 

“Oh god, you must be in a lot of pain, how did happen?”

“I fell, from about twenty feet up.”

“You never fall.”

“I know, I just misjudged my jump, I was a little distracted by something, and down I went.” She didn’t want to tell Clarke that she was distracted by thoughts about her, their last night together. No, she wouldn’t admit that.

“So, anyway, I remembered what you said, about ever needing anything, and you and your mom being healers and all, I thought maybe you could set this properly. I would have gone to a local healer, but I didn’t want them to screw it up, I kinda need my hand to function properly.” 

“Oh my god, yes, let’s go. My mom will fix you right up.”

“Should I bring the dogs?”

“Yeah, they’ll be a big hit back at camp.”

They began the short trek back to Arkadia, Clarke looked over at Andes and realized how much she missed her. She still looked great. She had a cropped top over her bindings, abs still showing, guns blazing, her shorts were a little longer, she was still mesmerizing. Andes caught her eye, smiled, and Clarke felt a little something down below in the pit of her belly. “Did you cut your hair?” she asked, since it seemed a bit shorter. 

Andes absently ran her good hand through her hair. “Yeah, took off a little bit, it was getting a little wild.”

“Well, it looks nice.”

“Thanks.”

Soon Arkadia came into view, and the guards looked up and saw Clarke, walking with a taller woman, and 3 very large looking dogs. They opened the gates and just stared as Andes and the dogs walked through. Everyone at camp stopped what they were doing when the group walked by. Clarke opened the door and waited for Andes, who was looking up at the ark with wonderment. She noticed Clarke was waiting for her, so she apologized and walked through the door. Clarke led her through a maze of corridors, finally coming to the med bay. They left the dogs outside the door. Her mom was attending to one of the Arkers, leaning over him, taking his temperature.

“Mom, when you have second?” Her mom looked over at Clarke, then looked at Andes. Andes waved with her bad hand. It was pretty dislocated, very noticeable even from across the room. Her mom rushed over. 

“Mom, this is Andes, Andes, my mom, Abby.”

Andes grabbed Abby’s hand with her good one, “It’s nice to meet you Clarke’s mom, may I call you Abby, or do you prefer mom?” 

Abby just stared at her for a second, “Uh, Abby’s fine, Andes,” suddenly getting who she was, “Oh Andes, oh my god, Clarke’s told me so much about you. “ 

Andes looked at Clarke and raised her eyebrows, “I hope it was all good, “ she said, then turned back to Abby. “I see where Clarke gets her good looks,“ she said with a smile. 

Abby blushed a little, it was hard not to when Andes was paying attention to you. “Oh ,thank you, Clarke, where’ve you been hiding her?” She asked, never taking her eyes off Andes. She seemed vaguely familiar. She couldn’t quite figure out why that would be the case.

Clarke rolled her eyes at the whole exchange, knowing this scene was going to play over and over again as Andes met people She could charm the rattle off a snake. “So, mom, broken wrist.”

“Oh, yes, wow, that’s bad, “she said as she looked at it. “How long ago did it happen?” 

“Two days ago.” 

“Well, that’s not too bad, hopefully no healing took place, you’re not a fast healer or anything, are you?” She asked kiddingly. 

Andes looked at Clarke, nightbloods were notoriously fast healers. “I do heal a little quick.”

“Oh, ok. Well, the only thing that will do is make it more painful when I set it, because it’s almost like I’m re-breaking it. “Jackson, “ she called. “Let’s take a quick scan, and get some plaster ready,” turning back to Andes now, “after I set it, we’ll put a cast on it. That will probably have to stay on at least 3 weeks, if not 4. When the cast comes off, we’ll have to do some rehab to get the movement and strength back. In other words, welcome to the Arkadia, you new home for the next 6 weeks.” 

Andes looked at Clarke again . “Six weeks? I certainly don’t want to put anyone out. You can cast me, then I’ll just come back to take it off in a few weeks. Really, it’s no big deal.”

Clarke put her hand on Andes arm, “Andes, you can’t be running around out there with one arm. It’s too dangerous.” 

Andes didn’t think of that. “I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Oh my god, you saved my daughter’s life. It’s the least we can do, give you a safe place to heal.” Abby said. Andes nodded her head, accepting her fate. She would have to be around Clarke for the next 6 weeks, without touching her. This would surely test her self control.

Abby scanned the film, looked at the break. “Ok, let’s get this set, do you want some pain killers?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Abby looked at Clarke, “She’s pretty tough, mom.” 

“Oook. Ready?” She looked at Andes, then Clarke. 

Andes nodded, Clarke took her hands and cupped Andes face, gazed into her eyes, trying to distract her, and it worked, Andes melted under the stare, but her eyes widened in pain when Abby set the bone.

“Holy shit, Holy fuck, that hurt,” Clarke patted her face, “shake it off, you’ll be fine.” Andes bit her lower lip, and nodded. Abby wet the sheets of plaster and casted the wrist. When she was done, she stepped back to look at her handiwork, nodding, “Looks good. You can get it signed after it dries in an hour.” 

Andes just looked at her, “signed?” 

“Yeah, that’s what people do, get their casts signed, although I have no idea why.” 

“Thank you Abby, “ 

Abby turned and smiled at her, Clarke’s smile. “You’re very welcome Andes. And thank you, for saving my baby.” Clarke groaned, Andes looked at her, and mouthed, “baby.” 

“Shut up.”

By now, word had spread through Arkadia of the visitor and her exotic pets. People started filing in to meet this new person.

Clarke knew Andes head must be spinning, she was meeting so many people, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. Monty and Jasper were a little tongue tied around her, but she put them at ease with her story about how she raised the dogs. Octavia made her promise to teach her how to shoot a bow, the one thing she hadn’t mastered yet. Now she was engaged in an animated conversation with Kane, talking about planting crops, so Clarke slipped away to stand next to her mom. 

“She’s really pretty, Clarke, unusual looking.” Abby said. She still found Andes oddly familiar. 

“Yeah, she’s a good egg too, mom.” Abby looked at her daughter, and watched the way she looked at Andes, raised her eyebrows turned away with a small smile on her lips. Maybe this girl could get through to Clarke. Abby had been trying for a couple months to pull Clarke out of her doldrums. Losing Lexa had thrown her for a loop. 

“Griff, what up?” Clarke turned to see Raven coming up. She slung her arm around Clarke. “So, who’s your friend?” she asked slyly. 

“That, is Andes.” 

“Oh, the chick who rescued you?” Clarke nodded. Raven looked over at Andes, looked her up and down, “Holy shit, Clarke, she’s smokin’, as in smokin’ fuckin’ hot. You hittin’ that?” She asked teasingly. 

Clarke pushed her a little, “What? Why would you say that? Oh my god, knock it off.” 

“You gonna introduce me?” 

“I will if you promise to behave.” 

Raven looked hurt, “Clarkie, I’m a model citizen, “ 

Clarke shook her head and they walked over towards Andes, who had her back to them. Clarke tapped her shoulder, she turned and faced the two girls, “Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous, and what color are your eyes? “ Raven said as she grabbed Andes hand, looking at her closely. “Gray, wow, that’s some cool shit, I’m Raven, by the way, I am Clarke’s BFF, best fucking friend.” 

“I knew who you were as soon as you said, ‘holy fuck’, “ Andes said with a serious face. 

Raven looked at her, turned to Clarke, “I love her Clarke, I’m in love with her already.” Raven grabbed Andes arm and started walking away from Clarke, Andes looking back at Clarke and winked. Clarke groaned. These two. These two would be trouble. Two peas in a pod. She caught up to them quickly, afraid of the questions Raven would ask. She hadn’t told Raven about what happened between her and Andes, knowing Raven would never let it go. Now Raven had her hands around the top of Andes, arms, “You have very big biceps, do you lift weights or something? Clarke has a weakness for biceps, did you know that?” 

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Andes wanted to correct her and say that Clarke liked abs the most, but she thought better of it. 

Fuck, “Raven,“ Clarke said, but Raven held Clarke off with her other arm, 

“What did you two gals do for 6 days, all alone in the woods?” 

“Well, when we weren’t running for our lives, we would have sex everywhere, in the trees, in the rivers, in the fields, she wore me out actually. By the end of the 6th day, I was ready to be rid of her, I needed my beauty rest. I mean, this “ circling around her face,”does not happen by accident. If I don’t get the proper 8 hours sleep a night, I start to get bags under my eyes, you know what I mean? “ Andes managed to diffuse the question in the best way possible with Raven, turn it into a joke.

Raven looked at Andes, then looked at Clarke, “Clarke, I’m going to marry Andes, will you be my maid of honor?” 

Clarke could see that they were both thoroughly enjoying this encounter. “Oh, hey Raven, Andes would like you to teach her about jet propulsion.” 

Raven’s mouth dropped open, looking back and forth between Andes and Clarke, “seriously?” Andes nodded. “I just got a little wet.” Raven said. Now they were all laughing. “Come with me goddess. Hey Wick,” she shouted across the room, “ meet my new wife, and get your shit out of my room, cause she’s moving in.”

Abby came back over to Clarke, pulled her aside. “Clarke, Andes is going to need somewhere to sleep. You know we’re short on rooms around here. I mean, I can set her up in the medical bay, maybe in the corner, but that’s no very private. I thought maybe she could bunk with you?” 

Clarke looked at her mom, seeing something in her eyes, “Mom, you know we’re just friends, right?” 

“Absolutely honey, I just thought, maybe she would be more comfortable with someone she knows, that’s all. And why don’t you take her to storage and get her some clothes, she can’t be walking around half naked all the time. I’ll have Miller put a cot in your room.” And with that she walked away. It seems Clarke was to have a roommate for the next 5 or 6 weeks.

Clarke had to pry Andes away from Raven. “Come with me, I’m gonna get you some clothes and show you were you’ll sleep. Raven, we’ll see you later, “

Raven made some sexy eyes at Andes, “I’ll see you, later.” Andes winked back at her.

“I like her Clarke,”

“I knew you would. “ Clarke ushered them into a supply closet, and the door swung shut behind them.

“Clarke, if you wanted to get me alone, you just had to ask.”

Clarke just rolled her eyes at her. She began pulling out tee shirts, pants, socks, boots. “I think these should fit, here, try them on, “ Andes took off her half shirt, and pulled on the tee. It was snug, especially around her arms. Clarke looked at the way the shirt fit, decided she liked it tight. Next came the pants, and Clarke thought she would miss seeing Andes legs, and opted for shorts instead. She found a pair that were a little longer than the ones she wore now, handed them to Andes. Ankle high black boots topped it off. Clarke stepped back and looked her over. Wow, she thought if certain parts were covered up, she wouldn’t be as sexy looking. Wrong. She was lost in these thoughts when she realized that Andes was talking to her. “Sorry, what?”

“Does it fit? Feels a little tight.” She said as she pulled at the tee shirt.

Clarke slapped Andes hands away, and reached in to her shirt to pull out her necklace. “No, looks good, you look good.”

“If you say so.”

“C’mon, I’ll show you your room.” Clarke walked her down a few corridors, and stopped at her door. “So, this, this is my room, ah, we don’t really have any open space, and my mom thought you would be more comfortable if you were with someone you knew.” 

Andes looked at her, slowly smiling, “I like your mom.” Clarke rolled her eyes again and pushed the door open. Miller had delivered the cot and placed it against the wall opposite Clarke’s bed. Andes followed her in, looking around. “So, you can put your stuff over here, this obviously is your bed, “ she stopped and looked over at Andes, who was intently staring at something. Too late, crap. 

“What’s this Clarke?” Andes asked, holding up the picture Clarke had drawn, the picture of Andes and the dogs, standing up on the hill. Clarke forgot that picture was sitting out.

“Oh, that’s you and the boys. That’s from our last day, when you were standing up on the hill. It just looked like a moment that had to be drawn.”

“I know that it’s me, why did you draw it?”

“I don’t know, I love to draw, it was, I don’t know, I guess I wanted to permanently capture that image. In case, in case we never saw each other again, I’d have something to remember, you, and, Jaks.” Clarke was stumbling a little, feeling like she got caught red-handed with something. 

“It’s beautiful.” She turned towards Clarke, “Will you draw me something?”

“Sure, what?”

“Something for me to remember you by?” Andes looked over at her, the stare was back, but they both pulled back from it quickly. 

“Yes, I will draw something for you. Probably take a little while, I have to be inspired.”

Andes stepped closer to Clarke, invading her personal space, “So, what inspires you,” she asked softly, close enough now to breathe in the scent of her.

Clarke’s heart skipped a beat, and she took a quick glance down at Andes lips, hopefully quick enough that she didn’t notice, although the girl didn’t miss much. She stepped back a little, creating a little space between them. “All kinds of things can be inspiring, I’ll know it when it happens. “ Andes just smiled, she caught the glance, Clarke knew she caught the glance. “So, are you hungry? It’s dinner time around here, how about we go get some chow.”

Andes knew that this moment was over, and she looked forward to the next one. The next 6 weeks would be interesting. “Sure, let’s eat. Dinner.” Clarke looked at her sharply, but chose to ignore that remark.

When they made it down to the mess hall, Raven called them over to sit with her and the gang. “So, goddess, I hear we’ll have you around for about 6 weeks?”

“Yes, lucky you.”

“I know, right? So I think you should come down to the control room, I’m gonna teach you all about jet propulsion.”

Andes rested her chin in her hand, “Is that what you call it? “ Andes said with a leer. She was totally on Raven’s wave length, like they were twin sisters separated at birth.

“Wick! Take the day off tomorrow, me and the goddess have things to do.” Wick just rolled his eyes, used to Raven’s craziness.

“Actually, that’s a great idea, “ said Clarke. “Show her a computer, see what she does with it. Just don’t play poker with her, she’ll fleece you.”

They spent the next couple of hours working out a schedule for Andes, making sure she got a full taste of life at Arkadia. Mornings with Raven, lunch with Abby in the medical bay, afternoons outside with Octavia, late afternoons exercising the dogs. Andes was a little disappointed because there didn’t seem to be any scheduled “Clarke time.” She wondered if Clarke did that on purpose. It was getting late now, so everyone wandered back to their respective rooms to turn in. When Clarke and Andes got back to the room, Clarke went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Andes sat on her bed and looked at the other pictures that Clarke had on the wall, admiring her talent, and wishing she could kiss Clarke goodnight. When Clarke came out, Andes went in. She came back out and stripped off all her clothes, and Clarke just watched, remembering their night together, remembering having free reign over that body. She closed her eyes, but the images wouldn’t go away. 

Andes was in bed now, “good night Clarke, and thank you for everything, for helping with this, “ holding up her broken wrist, “and for letting me stay here.”

“You’re welcome, Andes. Get a goodnights rest, you have a full day tomorrow.”

“I’ll try Clarke, “ she said as she stared over at her. Clarke knew that look, knew what she was thinking when her eyes turned that color. Clarke felt a pang, thought how good she looked, thought how it would be nice to lie together, snuggle together. She banished those thoughts, and rolled over to try and get some sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more arkadia, fun with the gang, still burning slowly

The next morning, Andes was up and ready for her first day at Arkadia. She was looking forward to spending time with Raven. After breakfast, Clarke took her over to the control room. 

“There’s my girl!” Raven called out. Clarke told Andes she would see her later and left them both to their own devices. Raven started by introducing Andes to computers. She was fascinated, and by the end of the hour she was mastering all the games that Raven had showed her. She was able to look inside one of the broken ones, learning all the inner workings of disks, circuit boards, switches, and everything else that made a computer work. While she was poking around with a mother board, she heard Raven curse.

“What’s up?” she asked as she went over to look at what Raven was doing. “What’s all that.” 

“This, goddess, is called code. This is the language of computers. I basically write code, which in turn tells the computer what to do. Right now, I’ve written a code for something, but it’s not working, and it pisses me off when I can’t get my code to work. So, I’m trying to scroll through all this code to find the problem. I must have written something wrong.”

Andes watched as Raven scrolled through lines and lines of text. “Wait. Go back.”

Raven looked at her, “what? Did you see something?”

“Yeah, something looked different. Keep going back, there, that line is different.”

Raven squinted at the screen, “well I’ll be damned, holy shit, I had an extra character in there.” She looked dumbfounded at Andes. “How did you see that?”

Andes shrugged, “I don’t know, I just noticed that it looked different, it was longer than the other lines.”

“But I was scrolling really fast, like, really fast, how did you even notice it?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I just saw it.”

“Dude, I seriously love you. And if I were on your team, we’d be doin’ it right now. On the floor, in front of this computer. But I don’t love you like that. And that’s a fucking shame.”

Andes had a thoughtful look on her face, “that floor is too hard, I’d put you up on that desk and do you real good.”

“I dig that, I dig your passion, high five.” She put her hand up for Andes, but she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. “High five, take your hand and slap mine, high five, “ Andes raised her casted hand, “whoa whoa, your other hand, the one without the hard plastic on it, please. “ Andes slapped Raven’s hand, hard, not knowing her own strength.  
“Ouch, ok, I think you broke my hand. You can take that down a notch, a little softer.” Andes tried again and Raven nodded, “there you go, goddess.”

“Teach me how to write code.”

“Seriously?” Andes nodded. “Now you’re really turning me on.” And over the next few hours, Raven taught some basic computer languages to Andes, who was of course a quick study. She loved it, being able to tell a computer what to do. She ended up spending most of the day with Raven, writing code and laughing, lots of laughing. 

Raven was impressed with Andes capacity for learning. “Tomorrow, I want you to take a test.”

“What kind of test?”

“It’s called an IQ test, Intelligence Quotient. It basically measures intelligence, how smart you are, that kinda stuff.” 

“Ok, whatever, sounds fun.”

“And here, try this.” Raven came over and put ear plugs in Andes ears, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and for the first time in her life, Andes heard recorded music. 

She looked up at Raven, grinning from ear to ear. “What is this?”

“Music my friend, enjoy.”

Andes started bobbing her head to the beat, “wow, this is great!” 

“Well, wait until Saturday night.”

“Why, what happens then?”

“Every Saturday night we turn the mess hall in to a dance club, and we all go a little bat shit crazy, let loose. Playing music, dancing, singing, drinking, partying. It’s a blast.”

“Well, I can’t wait.”

“I think we can call it a day. You did good. I’m impressed with that brain of yours. You coming back tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah, high five.” 

Raven smiled as she slapped Andes hand. 

Andes made her way back to the room, laptop in hand, headphones on, bopping her head to the music. Clarke was there sitting at her desk. “Hey you, how did it go with Raven today.”

Andes talked loudly, because of the headphones, “it went great.” Clarke got up and removed her headphones, “was I loud?“ Andes asked sheepishly.

“Just a little, whadya got there?”

“Raven gave me this laptop to play around with, and, she showed me music, it’s pretty cool. Hey, are we going to the mess hall tomorrow night? Raven said it’s a big party, and everyone goes.” Clarke just looked at her, how excited she was, it was really cute. “Clarke, you’re staring, you know I love it when you stare at me. It gets me all tingly inside.” She said with a leering smile.

“Oh calm down, you just looked cute, all excited about your computer and tomorrow night.”

“Cute? I think I prefer sexy.”

“Well, that goes without saying.”

“Now we’re talking, you just let me know, you know, if you need anything. And by anything, I mean sex.” 

“Oh my god, really? I can see Raven’s been a good influence on you.”

“We had a blast. She is way funny.”

“Way funny?”

“Yes, lots of sexual innuendo talk.”

“What, did you read a dictionary today? Sexual innuendo?”

“That’s what she said. Not the dictionary part, the sexual innuendo part.”

“I can’t even follow this conversation. Are you ready to go to dinner?”

“Yes, I’m ready. Are we going Saturday night?”

“You can go if you want.”

“Why, don’t you go?”

“Yes, I go, and I will take you. But it’s not a date, “ she said pointing at Andes. 

Andes grabbed her finger and went to bite it, playfully. Clarke watched her mouth and zoned out for a moment, thinking back to that mouth and what it could do. She snapped out of it, looking up at Andes, who was looking at her with her eyebrows raised, sensing where Clarke just went. “If you say so.” 

They made their way to the dining hall, joining Raven, Bell, Echo, Wick, and Harper at a table. Dinner was not that exiting, but there were cookies afterwards. Somebody brought them back from Polis. Everyone had one, and there was one left. Andes and Raven both reached for the last cookie at the table. 

“That’s the last cookie, dude. I”ll arm wrestle you for it.” Raven said. 

“Arm wrestle?”

“Yeah, here, we put our elbows on the table, we grip each other’s hand like this, and then when I say go, we each try and put the other’s hand down on the table. I’ll even let you use your good hand.“

“Seriously, you’re gonna arm wrestle her? Have you seen this muscle,” Clarke said as she grabbed Andes flexed bicep. Andes felt herself get a little wet, god she was pathetic. 

“Yeah, well, it’s all about technique, leverage. Let’s go goddess,”

They both got into position, Andes asked, “you ready?” 

“Oh, that porn voice make work on blondie over there, but not me,” as she gazed briefly into Andes eyes, trying to distract her, catch her off guard, “Ready, go!” Andes whipped Raven’s hand onto the table so fast she fell off her chair. Everyone leaned over to look at Raven on the floor. “Raven you ok?” “ Wow, Rav, you hurt?” “you ok dude?”  
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she got up. She pointed to Andes, “I didn’t say go.”

“You did say go.”

“I don’t think I did.” 

“Oh you did, you said go. I heard it.” 

“I don’t know, I don’t think I did, maybe I said oh or something. “ 

“No, it was go.” 

Clarke and Bellamy chimed in, “yeah, you said go, “ 

“Ok, ok, I obviously wasn’t ready. “ They got in position again, Raven looking at Andes, “better be careful, I have ways,” Andes flashed back to Clarke and the tickling episode, and subtly wrapped her other arm around her waist, looking at Clarke. Clarke noticed and immediately started laughing, making Andes smile. Raven saw the distraction, “go!” Putting her full force into it, Andes wasn’t even looking at her, still smiling at Clarke, winking at her now, Raven pushed and pushed and couldn’t budge Andes hand. She finally gave up. “Ok, geez, you can have the cookie. I’m full anyway.”

Andes broke the cookie in half and shared it with Raven, who said, “Dude, you’re strong as an ox.” 

“Oh I don’t know, you made me work back there. “ 

“I did, didn’t I? I thought I did.”

“Absolutely, I think I broke a sweat, wait,” she wiped at her brow, “is that wet? I think it’s wet.” 

“Oh, yeah, it’s wet, you broke a sweat.”

“Yeah I did, up high,” Andes said, raising her hand above her head, Raven slapping her hand into Andes.

Clarke looked back and forth, between Raven and Andes, ‘”You two are fucking weirdos.”

Andes looked shocked, looked at Raven, “fucking weirdos? That sounds harsh, doesn’t it?” 

“Sounds a bit harsh, yeah,”

“She didn’t have to insert ‘fucking’ in there, “ 

“No, that definitely made it harsher,” 

“Clarke taught me all about that word, and I do believe in this context, it was not meant as a compliment.”

“Agreed.”

“Oh my god, I knew if you two got together it would be a fucking nightmare.” Clarke said, rolling her eyes, secretly loving it though, loved seeing her two of her favorite people getting along so well.

A sharp intake of breath from Raven, “there’s that word again,” looking at Andes. 

“She really has a fucking potty mouth.”

Raven tried to keep a straight face, but burst out laughing. All of them did. ‘I love her Clarke , I love her.” she said as she turned towards Andes, “But not like that.“

“Maybe someday, when I write a code to change the world.”

“Yeah then I’ll love you like that. You know, that cookie wasn’t even that good.”

“I know,” Andes looked at Clarke, “A little cake from Sara would be nice right now.”

“Oh, who’s Sara?” Raven asked, with big eyes.

Clarke chimed in, “that would be one of Andes fuck buddies.”

“Fuck buddies?” Andes hadn’t heard that one before, but she liked it.

“One of her fuck buddies? Geez, how many do you have, goddess?”

“A few.” They all just stared at her. “What can I say, I like sex.”

“Don’t we all,” Raven answered.

All Clarke could do is shake her head, laughing. This was one day spent together, these two. God help her in 6 weeks.

They made it back to their room later. Clarke went into the bathroom and Andes stripped off her clothes and went under the covers. When Clarke came back out, Andes said, “you’re different here.”

“What do you mean?”  


“I don’t know, you’re different. Everyone looks to you, you can tell. You’re confident, in control, it’s kind of a turn on.”

Clarke smiled, and her stomach churned a little. “Well, thank you.”

“So, I guess you’re the heda around here?”

“Yeah, to an extent that I have final say in things. We do have our own council, we all have input. But any decision will come down to me.”

“So, it’s like I’m sleeping with the boss.”

“More like you slept with the boss.” Clarke corrected her. Andes thought that one would slide through unnoticed. 

“Right. Good to know. Good night Clarke.”

“Good night Andes.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tiny bit of chapter info for the 2 people that may be reading this, little soft fluffy stuff at the end. smut coming in a few.

The next morning Andes showed up bright an early. She brought the dogs in today, since she hadn’t gotten to spend much time with them, they were staying outside the fence on most days.

Raven popped in and stopped short ,”Whoa, you brought reinforcements today?”

“Yes, I’ve been missing them, hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no, but if it’s ok, I’ll stay over here,” she said from across the table. “They have really big teeth.”

“They’re quite harmless.” Raven was not convinced. “Jaks,“ and she a made motion with her hands, taking her fingers to her mouth and pointing at Raven. Jaks got up and went to Raven, put his paws on her chair, and gave her a couple of wet sloppy kisses.

Raven just froze, her hands in the air, “Oh, my, god. Ok, gross.”

“See? Harmless.“

Raven started wiping off her face, “I hope you’re a better kisser than your dog.”

“Marginally, I’m marginally better.”

“Ok, enough foreplay, come over here, goddess.”

Raven set her up for the IQ test, not telling anyone else she was giving it to her. This was just between them right now. Andes went through it, answering all the questions, and after she was done, Raven fed the results into the computer. Andes hung over her shoulder, “What does it say?”

“Hold on, hold on, it’s thinking.” When the results came up, Raven just stared at the screen. “Wait, something must have happened, this doesn’t look right, let me put your answers in again.” She re-loaded and they both watched the screen, and the result was the same, >200\. “Shit, that’s immeasurable.” 

“What does that mean?”

“It means you have an immeasurable IQ, like super genius, like, you broke the test. Let me see if we can get it more exact.” She tapped out a few commands, and hit enter. 240. “Holy fucking shit. I’ve never seen a number that high. I didn’t know it could even go that high.” 

“Is that good?”

“I guess if you like to be considered a super genius it is. I’m like a 180, which is genius, but you’re off the charts genius.“

“How’s that possible?”

“Hell, I don’t know. You must have good genes. You’re almost like a computer. That’s why you saw that error in the code yesterday, you’re brain must be processing things at an incredibly fast speed. That’s pretty cool, actually. “

“Huh, so I ‘m smarter than you?”

“Don’t get cocky.”

Andes smiled and sat down across from Raven. “So I was listening to your music last night. I love it. Where does it come from?”

“It comes from the mainframe. There are probably over 20,000 songs downloaded here.”

“Who put them on the mainframe?”

“The engineers who built this place downloaded them. A little trivia for you, it took them 25 years to build the Ark.”

Andes nodded her head, processing the info, “so they built the Ark, and launched it into space, I remember Clarke telling me about it. She said they launched the space stations in 2055. And then in 2070, there was nuclear war, and the people up in space were considered to be the only survivors.”

“Yep, and the rest is history.”

“I like history actually.”

“You do?”

“Yep, I’ve actually read a lot of books about history.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I love to read.”

“Cool. Where did you get them, the books?”

“They’re everywhere if you know where to look . Did you know that the first nuclear weapon was detonated in New Mexico in July 1945, which was located in the United States. The next two detonations killed over 100,000 people, in the country of Japan, in August 1945, and that ended World War 2. So I guess nobody learned their lesson in 2070.”

“Very good, yes, you do know your history. And yes, we seem to never learn our lesson. History always repeats itself.”

“Same thing happens now. Same mistakes, same wars, just no nukes.” Andes said sadly.

“Yeah, well, this is conversation is starting to get a little dark, you coming tonight?”

“Yeah, we’re both coming.”

“Good, you’ll have a great time.”

 

Clarke and Andes made their way to the mess hall around 8pm. The place was already rocking, and they found seats near all their friends. The music was loud and the dance floor was crowded. Harper came and dragged Andes over to the bar to meet some new people. Raven pulled a chair up to Clarke, leaning into her ear, “Hey, I just wanted to let you know your future wife is a genius.” 

“I thought she was your future wife. “

“I’ll take her brain, you can have her body.“

“Sounds fair.”

“Clarke, I’m serious, she’s a fucking genius.”

Clarke had no idea why Raven was bringing this up, “I know, she’s really smart.”

“No, you don’t get it. I gave her an IQ test today.”

“And?”

“She was off the charts. I had to alter it so it would keep measuring, like beyond 200.”

“I’m not real familiar with the test, so, sorry, I’m not getting this.”

“Clarke, I’m a 180, and you know that’s pretty high right?” Clarke nodded. “Well, our little hot sexy friend there came in at 240.”

“240?”

“Ya.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Actually, I might have said holy fucking shit. She found an error in my code one hour after she was there yesterday, her first day. I was scrolling through tons of lines of code, looking for my mistake, and she’s watching me, and she stops me, tells me to go back, and there it was, an extra character. She just said that it looked different. Do you know how fast I was scrolling? Fast. She’s probably using parts of her brain that the rest of us can only dream of using.”

Raven and Clarke watched Andes interacting with everyone, laughing and smiling, touching people on the shoulder as she spoke to them. “So, everyone is digging her.”

Clarke noticed Gomez paying a little too much attention to Andes, she was whispering in her ear, laughing with her, wrapping her hand around her bicep, writing something on her cast. Clarke got annoyed. “Some people seem to be digging her more than others.”

“What was that? Was that a little jealousy there, Clarkie?”

“What? No. Why would I be jealous? That’s ridiculous. You’re ridiculous.” Raven just stared at her. “You can stop staring, please.” 

“Clarke and Andes sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Raven sang at her.

“You need to shut it, Reyes.“ Clarke said, holding back a smile. 

Raven stopped and looked back at Andes, “she’s an interesting bird. Don’t you think? There’s a presence about her, like you can’t look away, and it’s not because she’s gorgeous. She holds a room. If she asked me to go to war with her, I’d follow her.”

“I’m surprised she’s this good around so many people. She’s basically been alone for years.”

“What did you guys do for six days all alone? I mean, 24/7 for six days is a long time. That’s like three months of dating in normal time.”

Clarke was saved by Monty, who came over to tell Raven they were ready for her.

“Alright, I gotta go, I’m running the show tonight.” And with that she went up to the front of the dance floor, and turned off the music for a second. “Ok, my peeps, we ready for some lip sync action tonight?” Everyone started cheering, whopping and cat calling. Raven looked back to the door leading into the kitchen, “How we doing back there Monty?” He gave a thumbs up. “Ok, our first act is ready, may I present to you, our resident repeat champion, Harper!” Everyone whistled and screamed, feeling the booze, ready for some fun.

Andes came back and sat down next to Clarke, “What’s this?”

Clarke leaned in close to her ear, “they play a song, and Harper will lip sync, meaning, she’ll act like she’s singing the song.”  
The music started and Harper came out and blew the crowd away as usual. Andes was loving it, and Clarke was loving watching her, barely taking her eyes off her. Other acts followed, but Harper was once again the winner.

The party broke up after midnight, most everyone had too much to drink, weaving their way back to their rooms, some hooking up for a brief night of passion.

“That was fun. Will you teach me to dance?” Andes asked.

“You want to learn to dance?”

“Yes please.”

“Ok, how about tomorrow night, after dinner, because the next day I have to go to Polis for a week for some council business.”

Andes was seriously disappointed, no Clarke for a week? “Did you want me to come with you?”

“No, it’s best if you just stay here, keep yourself out of trouble.” She put her arm around Andes neck, pulling her close, “can’t have anybody recognizing you now, can we?” She knew she was aching to touch Andes, and this seemed like an opportunity for a little innocent contact.

“When will you be back?”

“Next Monday.”

Clarke opened their door and they both went inside. Clarke removed her arm, and went into the bathroom. Andes wanted to pull her in for a kiss, the ale and the music had her particularly wired tonight. Sleep was going to be hard. Each night it seemed to get harder, and now she faced a whole week without Clarke.

 

The following night after dinner Andes bugged Clarke again, “Clarke, let’s dance, c’mon, show me. Raven said you’re a great dancer.”

“She did? Well, I’m pretty good.”

“She said great.”

“Ok, ok. Give me your computer, we’ve got to find some songs. ” She scrolled through and picked a couple good tunes that had good beats. “So, first of all, it’s not really something you can teach, per se, some people have it in them and some people have no rhythm, no matter how hard they try. Like Monty.”

Andes remembered seeing Monty dance last night, thinking he looked like a fish on the end of her spear. “Do you think I’ll have rhythm?”

Clarke thought back to the night they had sex, and she was pretty sure Andes would have rhythm. The old saying good on the dance floor good in bed. “Yeah, I think you’re gonna be fine.” She started the song. “Ok, so, you gotta feel the beat, that bass beat, the thump thump, do you hear it? “ Andes nodded, “well, now you gotta feel it. Start tapping your feet. “ Andes started tapping, then her head started moving . “Ok, now your hips, get them going to the beat, like this.” Andes got a little distracted by Clarke’s hips moving. Clarke snapped her fingers, “pay attention please.” 

“Sorry, but that’s distracting.”

Clarke tried not to smile, “ok, you do it, c’mon, move your hips.” 

Andes started to move with the music, she was a quick study, and now it was Clarkes turn to get distracted. “Is this right?” 

“What? Yes, that’s good.” Eventually they were both dancing all around the room. Clarke pulled Andes hips close and they moved in sync, in tune to each other’s movements, laughing and stealing touches. They danced for over an hour, finally worn out, they both collapsed on Clarke’s bed.

“How’d I do teacher?” Andes asked.

Clarke was catching her breath, beating back thoughts of abs and biceps. “You did good, did you like it?”

“Oh my god, yes, it’s like sex with clothes on.”

Clarke smiled, “yeah, I guess it is.”

“What about slow dancing? Do I get a lesson in that?” 

Andes was only a couple inches away from her, Clarke’s heart was still beating fast, and she knew it wasn’t just the dancing. “Someone else might have to show you that.”

“Chicken.” Andes said grinning. Moving with Clarke, dancing with her, touching her, was like a drug, and she wanted more. They lay quietly for a while, an easy silence between them, both their heart rates back to normal. “We grounders do dance and have fun you know.”

“Oh yeah?”

Andes nodded. “ When I was young, Lexa and Cos and I would go to the festivals in Polis. And we would walk around and I would be between them, and I would grab their hands, “ Andes grabbing Clarke’s hand, “and they would swing me back and forth.” Andes swung their hands. “I used to love that. They would stop and I’d plead with them, ‘do it again, do it again’. They would swing me so high I felt like I was flying. Once we would get into the crowds, and there were big crowds at the festivals, Lexa would carry me on her back so I wouldn’t get lost.”

“Like piggy back, “ Clarke said, as she looked over at Andes who was still looking up at the ceiling, their hands were still clasped, neither wanting to let go.

“Yeah, piggy back. I was pretty small for my age, Lex called me ‘little one.’ And then we would dance, and sometimes Lexa would put me up on her shoulders and I was way up high, like I was queen of Polis. Or she would take my hands and spin me around, my feet flying out behind me. “ Andes now turned her head towards Clarke, “those are my happiest memories.” She closed her eyes and faced forward again. “I miss that feeling, the feeling of belonging, to a family, even to my nightblood brothers and sisters. I hated training with them, but I was still part of something, know what I mean?”

Clarke squeezed her hand and nodded. This moment between them was new. A different Andes. Not flirting, not kidding around, baring a little bit of her soul, and Clarke was affected by it.

“I miss her. Lexa. She was my hero. I worshipped her.”

“I miss her too.”

“You can talk about it if you want.” Andes gazed at Clarke, who looked at her, looked into her eyes and saw gentleness and compassion. “What did you love most about her?” Andes asked.

Clarke took a deep breath as she looked back up at the ceiling. “God, I don’t think I can pick out one thing. I loved how she was when it was just the two of us. She let her guard down then. I was always amazed at the transformation. I loved the way she looked at me when other people were around. I don’t even think she realized how she looked at me. I loved the way she understood me. I felt like she was the only one who knew what it felt like to make the hard choices. The devastating choices, the choices you carry around for the rest of your life.“ Clarke was quiet for a moment. “I have so much blood on my hands. I don’t think it will ever wash off.” Now it was Andes turn to squeeze Clarke’s hand. “Those are my demons, my nightmares, “ she said as she turned back to Andes, blue meeting gray.

“I keep my demons and nightmares locked away.”

“I haven’t learned to do that yet.” 

“Sad eyes. There’s those sad eyes.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we met, you put your hand on my knee, and I looked into your eyes and they were so sad.”

“I remember that look. It felt like you crawled inside me.”

“I spent the whole week trying to erase that sadness.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I tried to make you laugh. Cause when you laugh, your eyes get all twinkly.” Like the stars in the night sky, but she didn’t say that out loud.

Clarke looked at Andes, really looked at her. Her eyes were the softest gray, her face open, her hair a little wavier from the sweat of dancing. So beautiful. She wanted to pull her close to hold her. And be held by her. Wanted to spend the night wrapped around her. This was more dangerous than lust. The lust she could battle, and if you slipped up, if you fell off the wagon, you just got back on with minimal damage. This she wasn’t so sure, if you lost this battle, you could lose your heart. This was a slippery slope that she couldn’t go down, not now, not ever again. She released Andes hand and got up. “Guess we should get some sleep. I leave for Polis tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Clarke went into the bathroom, and Andes covered her face with her hands. Trying to quiet these new feelings. These urges. Not sexual. Those were easy. These seemed much more complicated. The urge to soothe. The urge to comfort. The urge to love.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Andes woke up to find Clarke packing her bag. She rolled out of bed and padded naked to the bathroom. Clarke knew she was going to miss that sight for a week. Maybe the time off would help her get a hold of herself. When Andes came back, she put on some clothes, and looked dejected. 

“Well, I guess I’m off.” 

Andes couldn’t stand it, she went to Clarke and pulled her in for big hug. Clarke wrapped her arms around Andes shoulders, and they held each other for a few seconds. Andes released her and backed away a little bit. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

“Who’s going with you? Who’s protecting you?”

“Andes, I’ll be fine. Octavia is going to be with me, Kane, and we’re taking Brian and Miller.”

Andes put a stray hair behind Clarke’s ear, and Clarke remembered the last time she did that. She didn’t need these thoughts in her head right now. “I gotta go.”

“Ok, take care of yourself,”

“It’s just for a week.”

“I know, but a lot can happen in a week.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll see you next week, ok? Have fun while I’m gone. Don’t get into any trouble.”

“Ok, bye Clarke,”

“Bye Andes.” She said with a smile. She turned and headed out the door, already missing her. How was that even possible?

 

Clarke made it back the following Sunday, a day early. She went straight to her room, hoping to see Andes. She missed her, more than she thought she would. She battled this new demon all week. The Andes demon. It was becoming a craving, craving something you couldn’t have, which only made you want it more. She dreamed about her too, those gray eyes haunting her, waking up to wetness between her legs, yearning for release. A couple times, she just couldn’t stand it, she took care of herself, her fingers bringing herself to climax, thoughts of Andes driving her. She was surprised, she thought after that first night together, things would calm down, a night of lust would cure all, but it had just made the attraction stronger. Figures. And then there was last week, after they danced in the room. She’d rather just concentrate on the lust, push those other thoughts far from her mind. She was disappointed because Andes was nowhere in sight. She walked outside and saw Echo, “Clarke, welcome back.” 

“Thanks , hey, have you seen Andes?”

“She usually runs with the dogs for a couple hours in the afternoon. Probably still out with them.”

“Ok, thanks.” She walked towards the guard house and stopped short, Andes was walking through the gate now, dogs following her. What a sight. She didn’t see Clarke yet, so Clarke could observe without being noticed. She had a baseball hat on, and someone must have given her a sports bra, because she had that on instead of bindings, with shorts that came down to her knees, and her sandals. Sheen of sweat covered her body. Clarke’s insides turned to liquid just looking at her. She stood and waited for Andes to notice her. Jaks actually was first to see her, he suddenly ran away from Andes and straight to Clarke, jumping up on her. Clarke looked up and Andes eyes were on her now, slowly walking towards her. 

“Hey you,“ she said as she walked up to Clarke.

Clarke didn’t care who was looking, she hugged her, smelled her sweat and it was intoxicating, felt the slickness of it on her arms, “Hey yourself.” When she pulled back, she looked up at Andes, loving this look, shook the brim of her hat. “What’s this? Looks like Bellamy’s.”

“It is, I won it off him at poker.” Andes sensed that Clarke was digging the hat.

“Isn’t that his favorite hat, “

“I know, I was going to give it back to him. How was your trip?”

“Productive, I think.”

“Good. Missed you, was boring around here without you.”

“I missed you too.” Now she just stared, getting her fill.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She shook the brim again, “I like that, “

“Maybe I should keep it,”

“No, you should give it back.”

Andes smiled, she was going to have to find another hat somewhere. “I’m giving archery lessons to some people in a little while, if you wanted to stop by, out by the gardens.”

“Ok, I’ll come check it out.”

“Good, nice to have you back, Clarke,”

“Nice to be back.”

Andes watched Clarke walk away, mostly watched her ass. Those tender feelings from last week were safely tucked away. She beat them back with the biggest stick in her brain. Better to just want her, much safer that way.

Clarke joined the lessons while they were in full swing. Andes still had her hat on, the longer shorts, and now a tank top. Clarke was dying a slow lustful death. Andes was showing the setup to everyone who was there, standing behind them as they pulled the bow back. Steadying their arm, helping them aim at the target. Her cast barely limited her, in fact, it didn’t limit her at all. When it was Clarke’s turn, she took a deep breath and walked over to Andes. “Ok Clarke, let’s see your form. “ Clarke took her stance, pulled the bow string back and let an arrow loose. She did hit the target, but was still a ways from the bulls eye. Andes had her take her stance again, then moved in to help correct some flaws. Clarke once again was intoxicated by her smell, Andes pressed her body to hers, a little closer than the others. Clarke felt her breasts press against her back and her hand shook. Andes held it still, and looked down at her, smiling because she knew what was going on. She ran her hand down the length of Clarke’s arm, adjusting her aim, and Clarke started breathing heavier. “Relax Clarke,” Andes whispered in her ear, the huskiness of her voice turning Clarke on, bad, “take a deep breath, steady yourself, and let the arrow go. “ By now Clarke’s legs were like jello, but she did as she was told, and the arrow got a little closer to the mark. “That’s better.”

Monty thought it was impossible to hit that small red circle. “It’s not, Monty, trust me, it can be done.”

“Show us then.” The rest of them chimed in, “Yeah, show us.”

“OK, ok, calm down my impatient pupils. “ She took the bow out of Clarke’s hand and told Monty to go and retrieve all the arrows. Clarke was watching her now as she readied the bow, sticking about six arrows in the ground at her feet, turning the baseball hat backwards, oh god, now there’s a look Clarke thought. She suddenly had a vision of Andes leaning over her naked, with a baseball hat on backwards. Jesus, what is happening here, this was getting close to an obsession.

Andes made a show of getting ready, moving her head back and forth, rolling her shoulders back. She notched the first arrow, it was loose and in the circle, followed by the next one and the next one and the next, all rapid fire, one after the other, all clustering around the red circle. Clarke almost lost control watching that, she was so turned on she almost jumped Andes right there. The rest of the group hooped and hollered, incredibly impressed by the show. Andes only had eyes for Clarke, she winked at her, giving her a crooked little smile. Clarke started to walk away, this whole scene was a little much for her, she needed to bring her temperature down, “I gotta go, I’ll catch you later at dinner.” For the first time in her life, she actually felt like she needed a cold shower, and that’s what she was going to do.

 

The next morning Andes was in the medical bay with Abby. The cast had been on for a couple weeks now, and it was time to check the progress. Abby ran the scan and looked it over. “Wow, it’s almost healed.” She looked at Andes, a little shock on her face. “We might be able to remove this cast a lot quicker than I thought, maybe in less than a week.”

Andes shrugged, “I told you I was a quick healer.”

Abby looked down and noticed Andes necklace. “What’s this?” she asked, reaching for it, never noticing it before.

“It’s supposedly my father’s. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be.”

“It’s a dog tag.”

“A dog tag? For dogs?”

“No, it’s from the 21st century, or maybe even the 20th, they called them dog tags, the men and women in the military wore them, they were identification tags, dog tags was their nickname. They usually had their name, rank, serial number and blood type on them.” Abby turned it over and saw the letters on the back. “Oh my god. Loom,” she looked up at Andes. 

“What?” 

“Loom, I think this is supposed to say Loomis. “ She went to the intercom to page Raven. “Raven, do we still have access to the archives of the people on the ark? I’m talking about 20, 25 years ago.” 

“We should, I think those survived the crash. “ 

“Ok, I’ll be right over.” She said to Raven, “C’mon Andes, “ Andes followed Abby down to the control room where Raven was waiting for them. 

“What’s up?” 

“See if you can pull up the name Loomis.”

“Ok, Loomis, “she inputted the letters and hit enter. The return was immediate, “Here you go” she said looking at Abby. 

Abby read off the screen, “Dr. Andrew Loomis, nuclear physicist, astrophysicist, biologist.” 

“It just shows his birth date, nothing else, he’s not that old. What happened to him?” Raven asked.

Abby was lost in her memories now. “I remember Andrew, extremely intelligent, brilliant actually. He and Jake were good friends.”

“Who’s Jake?” Andes asked.

“Clarke’s father, my husband. Andrew stole one of the exploration pods, launched himself out into space the day before he was due to be floated. It was a big scandal. Nobody escaped being floated.”

Andes remembered what Clarke said about being floated, what happened to her father. “Why was he going to be floated?”

“He was one of the first people to speak up about the Ark not being able to sustain itself. God, that was almost 25 years ago.“ Andes remembered Clarke telling her why her dad was floated, so he must have discovered the same thing. “Anyway, nobody knew what happened to him. He was always saying that he wanted to go to earth, he thought the atmosphere would have been fine. So when he got the chance, he took it. We couldn’t track his pod because he was able to block his tracker from us.”

Raven was impressed. “Wow, he was like space cowboy. Cool. So you think he landed on earth?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he did.” Looking at Andes now.

“So, it’s a great story and all, but what’s it got to do with anything?” Raven asked.

“Raven, is there a picture in the archives?”

“Hold on, let me check. Yep, here it is, may I present Doctor Andrew Loomis.”

They all looked at the picture, larger than life up on the screen. Raven and Abby immediately looked at Andes, who was staring, staring at the spitting image of herself.

Raven started to get excited, “Holy shit, Andes. Is this your dad?” Andes was just looking at the computer screen. “ Wow, apparently hotness runs in your family,” Raven said as she playfully punched Andes on her shoulder. Andes looked over at Raven, a look of wonder on her face. She reached out and touched the screen, wavy bleached blond hair, gray eyes. 

Andes looked to Abby for confirmation. “Honey, I think we found your father. I knew Andrew, he was a wonderful man.”

“How?” Andes was speechless for once.

Abby smiled, “Well, he made it down to earth, and I guess he met your mom, and the rest is biological history. Andrew wore that dog tag, it was from his great, great grandfather. I hadn’t seen it on you before. I remember the first day I met you, I had a sense that there was something familiar about you, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. “

Andes finally started smiling, “Really? You think this is possible?” 

“I do. The likeness is incredible. I can run blood tests if you want, I’m sure his DNA is coded into his file.” 

“No, no blood test.” Andes said a little too quickly. She didn’t want Abby to see her blood color, that was still her secret, hers and Clarkes.

“Okay, but it’s a way to really know for sure.”

“No, I know it, I feel it. Do you think he’s still alive down there somewhere?”

“That I don’t know. So you never met him?”

Now that Andes was looking at his picture, a memory did come back to her, she was a baby, and she remembered looking up into gray eyes, kind eyes, but that’s all she could recall. “He wasn’t in our lives at all, but I think I remember him looking at me after I was born.”

“Well, this explains that brain of yours. Dude was a genius too, by the looks of his files. Not quite as much as a genius as you, but he was up there.” Raven said as she pulled up pages of data.

“Where’s Clarke? I have to tell Clarke!” Andes wanted to share this with her.

“She was out on patrol, but she should be back by now.” Raven went to the intercom, “Paging Griff, paging Griff, you are needed in control, stat.”

Clarke showed up about 5 minutes later. “What’s up?” Andes grabbed Clarke’s hand and pulled her over to the computer screen, where Andrew was smiling down at them. Clarke’s mouth dropped open, the resemblance was uncanny, she looked at Andes, “What? Who is that?”

“It’s my father.” 

Clarke looked at Andes, looked at the picture on the computer, then looked at her mom and Raven. “I don’t understand, how did you find this?” 

Abby pointed to Andes necklace. “The dog tag around her neck.” 

Clarke remembered the letters on the back now, LOOM. She looked up at the picture, Andrew Loomis. Andrew, Andes. The hair, the eyes, the smile. She looked at Andes, “Oh my god, that’s your dad.” She reached out and pulled Andes in for a hug, which Andes was quick to return, wrapping her arms around Clarke and lifting her off the ground. She put her down, but their arms remained around each other. 

“I know, it really is, I feel it Clarke, when I looked at him, I felt something, and I had a memory, and that’s him.” 

“Oh my god, this is awesome, there he is, and his name, Andrew, and your name, you were probably named after him. Wow.” Andes filled Clarke in on Andrew’s story, of how he launched himself into space, how he must have landed and found Andes mother.

Raven and Abby watched the two of them together, and Abby just smiled at Raven, both knowing what the other was thinking, they both saw the obvious affection between the two them, saw the caring, they were a stunning couple, now if they could just stop being so stubborn about it. 

“Someday they’ll get it, “ Raven said quietly to Abby. Abby nodded, she hoped so, she really liked Andes, and she knew she was good for Clarke, her lightness balancing out the darkness in Clarke.

 

Later that night, Andes was sitting on her bed, with her back against the wall, looking at the laptop that Raven gave her, reading about her father. His file contained tons of data. Abby did some searching in their resource library, and found a couple ebooks that Andrew had written, and she loaded them up on the laptop also. Clarke came out of the shower, her hair wet, just a towel wrapped around herself. Andes looked up to watch Clarke take it off and get dressed. She stopped being modest after their night together, and Andes always enjoyed this show, especially since Clarke didn’t seem to mind her watching. As usual, her body reacted, intense heat everywhere, heart beating out of her chest. And as usual, since she had been here at the ark, she had to control herself, talk herself down, cool herself off. That stupid promise. She often would think of what she would do if that promise wasn’t made, she would think of these things in the middle of the night when she couldn’t sleep. She pictured herself grabbing Clarke and showing her how much she wanted her, how much she cared. She knew Clarke would be in to it also. She wasn’t so good at hiding her lust.

“What are you reading?” Clarke asked after she was done putting on a shirt and shorts.

“Reading about my dad, he wrote books, he wrote poems, it’s quite fascinating. “ Clarke wandered over to stand next to Andes bed, craning her neck to see the screen. “Here, sit down,” Andes moved over to give Clarke room. Clarke scooted up on the bed and leaned in close. Now their bodies were touching, from shoulder down to their feet. The temperature in the room shot up. “So, look, here’s some pictures, I think this might be your dad, Jake, right?” 

Clarke looked at the picture and smiled, “oh my god, it is. So what, were they friends then?”

“I think so, there are a lot of pictures of them both, and your mom. None of you as a baby though, I looked. I guess he must have left before you born. And look, he wrote poetry.”

Clarke read some of the poems. “Wow, he was romantic, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah, they’re really sweet poems. I wonder if he had someone up there that he cared about?”

“Maybe. So, did you get that romantic gene?”

Andes laughed, “I don’t know, I mean, I guess I haven’t had somebody to be romantic with. You know, since I’ve never been in love and all.”

“Yeah, that’s a shame.” Andes was looking down at Clarke now, looking at her mouth, wishing she could kiss her. “Don’t look at me like that,” Clarke said as she pushed her shoulder into Andes.

“Look at you like what?”

“Like you want to, “she couldn’t find the word.

“What?” Andes asked softly. 

“Devour me.“ 

“Devour you? Well, I don’t know about devour.” She kicked that one around in her brain, “ Maybe.” She was smiling at Clarke, trying to give her the sexiest smile she could. 

“Stop it,”

“What? I ‘m not doing anything. I’m looking at you, and you’re assuming something about the way I’m looking at you. It’s very subjective on your part.”

“I don’t have to assume, I know. Your eyes change color.”

“Really?“

“Yeah, they look like a thunderstorm when you’re…” Clarke stopped, not knowing if she wanted to continue down this path.

“When I’m what?” 

“Turned on. They look like storm clouds.” Clarke said as she kept her eyes on the computer screen, not wanting to see what she saw in Andes eyes. 

Andes reached down and put her finger under Clarke’s chin, brought her eyes up to hers. “Yours do too. Turn a different color.”

Clarke reached up and gently pushed Andes hand away. “Andes, please stop. You promised, remember?”

“Oh the promise, yes, I remember. The promise. It just seems silly to me, the promise.”

“What’s silly about it?”

“Well, it’s pretty fucking obvious that we have a serious connection here, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“I’ll admit that, yes, we have a strong sexual attraction here. That doesn’t mean we have to act on it.”

“You see, that’s what I don’t understand. Why not? Why can’t we act on it?”

“Because, I don’t know, because.”

“That’s not a good reason.”

Clarke sighed. “Ok, so we have sex, then what? Where do we go from there?”

“What do you mean where do we go from there?”

“Well, I don’t know. Just acting on something for the pure pleasure of it, and nothing more, seems, I don’t know, selfish, counterproductive. “ 

“What if it’s more than just for pleasure.” There, Andes threw it out there, feelings. Feelings, Andes knew she had feelings. Real feelings. If she were to be honest with herself, she knew she’d been dealing with them since she said goodbye to Clarke all those weeks ago.

“That’s not going to happen. I won’t let that happen, on my end. “

“You have that much control over your feelings?”

“I do, yes.” Clarke knew she was a liar. She knew if Andes grabbed her and kissed her, she wouldn’t even fight her, she would be begging for it. God she was weak.

Andes thought she had two options here, one, she could get all pissy about things, and probably Clarke would get off the bed and be mad. Or two, she could put a lid on her overactive sex drive, a sex drive that was driven strictly by Clarke, and laugh it off, keeping Clarke next to her on her bed, at least for a little while longer. She pushed her shoulder back into Clarke’s and tried to lighten the mood, option two. “Ok, fair enough. Just seems like a big waste of good sex.” 

Clarke looked at Andes, saw the storm clouds receding, replaced by a soft gray. She smiled now, that little bit of a tense moment passing. “Why don’t you show me more pictures of your dad,” Clarke said, as she tried to cool herself off, wondering if Andes could see her insides as they trembled from being this close to her. They paged through more pictures and soon decided it was time to go to sleep. Clarke got up and went to her own bed, crawled beneath the covers.

“So, did you ever lip sync?” Andes asked her.

“I did, it was a while ago, but I did, why?”

“Maybe we could do one.”

“What, a lip sync?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.”

“We’ll see. Go to sleep.”

“Ok, bossy pants.”

Clarke picked her head up and looked at Andes across the room and threw her pillow at her. 

“Oh, thank you, two pillows are much better than one.”

Clarke lay there for a bit, her head flat on her bed, missing her pillow, “I would like my pillow back, please.”

“You’ll have to come and take it from me.”

Clarke sighed, pushed her covers back and walked over to Andes bed. “Give it here.”

“You threw it away. “

“I was hasty, and I regret throwing it, so may I please have it back?”

“Well, that was a very nice way of asking for it, so, yes you may have it, “ and she handed it back, only she didn’t let go of it and when Clarke grabbed it, Andes pulled her onto her bed. “Oops. Now what’ll we do?”

Clarke got up from the bed, now having full control of the pillow, and bopped her in the head with it, and walked back to her bed.

“Good night Clarke. “

“Good night Andes.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> smut has arrived. I thought maybe the beginning of the chapter was a little implausible, but then I thought, it's my dumb ass story, and I can put anything I want in there.

A few days later, Raven, Harper and Andes were in the control room, taking a break from work. Andes was excited, because her cast was off and she had an idea she wanted to run past these two. “So, I wanna do a lip sync.” Andes said

“Really? Well you came to the right place, right Harps?”

“Yeah absolutely. Do you have a song in mind?”

“Nope. I was hoping you could help pick one out.”

“Ok. Who’s your target audience?” Raven asked.

Andes just looked at her a little confused, “Whadya mean?”

“Who are you singing the song to goddess? A certain blond?”

“Maybe.” Smiling.

“What’s your end game? What do you hope to accomplish with the dance? What’s the mission?” Harper asked.

“Turn a certain blond on.” Andes said with a sly smile. She was running out of ideas, figured, what the hell?

“Ok, I love a girl who knows what she wants.” Raven said. “Harps, we need to dial up a very sexy song, and we need to dress this one up to match it.”  
“I am right there with you. Let’s see, sexy song, sexy song, let’s scroll through a few of these, “ and Harper started playing various songs, filtering back to the early 21st century, since they all agreed that was some of the best stuff out there.

After about 10 minutes of playing snippets of songs, Andes eyes lit up. “This one I like.” It had a driving bass beat, and the words were sexual and titillating.

Harper started laughing, “oh, we can do some stuff with that one.” And the choice was made. A song called S&M.

“I’m picturing this, hair slicked back, lacey bra, I’m talking no shirt obviously, short shorts, high boots, some grounder eye makeup, some sort of hand whip, what do you think Harps?”

“Oh, if that doesn’t work, she’s not human.”

“Let’s do this. We have 3 days.” Raven said. “Let’s get Brian and Miller, she needs back up dancers, who else, one more, get Echo, and you of course, queen of the lip sync.”

“Done, done, and done.”

Saturday night was here and Clarke and Andes made their way to the mess hall. Once they were there, Raven made sure they sat at the front for the show. Bellamy got them all drinks and they downed them quickly, looking for refills. They all went onto the dance floor, Clarke and Andes moving together, like they did in their room, grabbing a little at each other, laughing and having a blast. After an hour, they sat back down, and the drinks kept coming. Andes excused herself and got up, leaving Clarke with Octavia and Bellamy. “Where’s Echo?” She asked Bell.

“She’s in the show tonight,”

“Oh, cool.”

After 10 minutes Raven came out, “Ok, my peeps, we have a special one for you tonight. A very special performance. “She looked back at Monty, who nodded his head. “Sit back and enjoy this one,” Raven said as she left the stage to sit next to Clarke.

The music started and people starting whooping already because they recognized the song. Harper, Echo, Miller and Brian wandered out front, each in barely any clothes, with collars around their necks. When the lyrics started, Clarke looked around for Andes, wondering where she got to. She didn’t have to wonder long, because when she looked back to the front of the room, Andes came strutting out, and Clarke almost lost her shit. Her mouth hung open, and Raven playfully wiped her chin with a napkin. Clarke was mesmerized, she didn’t know where to look, the outfit, if you could even call it an outfit, since it was just a bra, shorts and boots, was a complete turn on. Octavia was hooting, grabbed Clarke’s shoulders and shook her. Andes was into the lyrics now, gyrating, playing off the four others on stage with her, who were on their knees, holding onto Andes legs, running their hands all over her, and she them. Clarke felt the heat in her body skyrocket up. Now Andes was into the second verse and came closer to the audience, zeroing in on her target, her target squirming now in her seat and Andes came and ran fingers around Clarke’s shoulders, circling behind her, walking away from her, bending over, turning back to sing over her shoulder, reaching out to touch the heads of Harper, Echo, Miller and Brian. All five of them singing and grinding away. When the song was over everyone went nuts. Clarke was almost hyperventilating after that performance; she felt the wetness between her legs, and she felt the ache that never seemed to go away.

Raven announced they were slowing it down now, and as Clarke was looking down, still gathering herself, she saw a hand in front of her, palm up, an invite, and she knew who was at the end of that hand. She groaned inside, can she even make it through a slow dance? In this state? She decided it would be rude to leave her hanging, so she placed her hand in Andes and was led to the dance floor. She wondered if Andes even knew how to slow dance, because Clarke didn’t teach her, she knew it would be bad news to teach her that in their room. Well, she didn’t have to wonder long, because Andes knew how, someone else must have taught her, or she was just fucking good at everything. She held Clarke’s hand and her other arm wrapped around her, pulling her close, their bodies touching, moving slowly to the rhythm. Clarke’s one hand rested on Andes naked back, just at her belt line, now slipping up a little, touching skin she hadn’t touched since that night. Andes shuttered a little at Clarke’s touch, pulled her closer and now Clarke’s chin was resting at the base of Andes throat, the side of Andes head touching Clarkes’. It was sweet torture, and no words were necessary.

After the slow dance ended Clarke turned and walked out of the room, leaving Andes on the dance floor. She walked down the hallway and turned into a bathroom. She closed the door behind her and just grabbed at the sink, had both hands on either side and tried to shake it off the wall. God, she was going absolutely nuts with lust right now. She wanted Andes so fucking badly, she was ready to scream. Now her eyes were closed and she replayed the dance, seeing Andes in that outfit, watching her body move to the music. She was so tired right now, tired from fighting her attraction to this girl, this girl who burst into her life like a comet, burning hot and beautiful. She opened her eyes and noticed how dark her eyes were at this moment. Andes was right, they turned darker too when she was turned on. She thought about taking care of the ache between her legs by herself, right here in the bathroom. But why should she do that, when the real thing was waiting for her out in that room. Fuck it. She opened up the door and made her way back to the hall.

Andes was leaning with her elbows on the makeshift bar, she had put a shirt back on. She had Harper on her right and Gomez on her left. Gomez was flirting with her, trying to get her on the dance floor. But Andes eyes were on the door that Clarke walked out of ten minutes ago. And then she was back. She came in the door way, scanning the room. Her eyes landed on Andes, and Andes heart sped up, she looked so hot right now. Clarke made her way over to Andes, grabbed her hand and led her back to the dance floor where a fast song was playing, joining the other bodies that were pressing together, moving to the deep bass beat. Clarke and Andes brought their bodies together, front to front, hips pressed tight together, Andes arm around Clarke, holding her against her body, grinding into her, Clarke had her hand on the back on Andes neck, pulling her forehead to Clarke’s, pressing them together.

Octavia was watching Clarke and Andes on the dance floor, Andes was now up against Clarke’s back, her one arm wrapped around her waist, thumb tucked into the top of her pants, the other hand resting on Clarke’s hip, both grinding against each other. “Are you watching what I’m watching?” She asked Raven.

“Yep.”

“This is like a sex off.”

“I feel like I’m watching porn, and I can’t look away.”

“It’s like a train wreck.”

“Yeah, a sexual train wreck.” Now Clarke had reached back and had her hand wrapped around Andes head, her head turned towards Andes, eyes closed, her mouth open. Andes moved both her hands up and down Clarke’s side, brushing the side of her breasts.

“Should we hose them down?” O asked.

“I think we should hose me down, I’m getting all hot and bothered.” Clarke moved in front of Andes, facing her now, both lost in the beat and lust. Clarke had her hand on the back of Andes neck, and Andes pulled Clarke’s hips in tight, right up against hers.

“Why don’t they just do it and get it over with?”

“Personally, I think they already did it up in those mountains.” Raven said, giving O a knowing look.

“Really?”

“I mean, that’s just me, I don’t want to start any rumors or anything. Those two have some seriously deep shit going on.”

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about rumors.” They both watch Clarke pull on Andes necklace to bring her lips down to Clarkes, now they were kissing each other hard. Next thing they saw was Clarke pulling Andes off the dance floor and out the door.

“I was gonna yell ‘get a room’ but I think they’re already doing that.” Raven commented as she craned her neck to watch them walk out the door.

“Yeah that’s a little after the fact.”

“Hm, yeah. Clarkie gettin laid tonight.”

 

Clarke led Andes down the hallway, both a little tipsy and a lot turned on. Clarke didn’t think she had ever felt this turned on fully clothed before, knew she was gonna fall off that wagon. She’d get back on it tomorrow. They weren’t speaking, just walking. When they opened the door to their room, Clarke slammed it shut behind them, then slammed Andes against it, kissing her deeply, her tongue desperate to explore Andes mouth. This time felt different than last time to Clarke, last time was sweet, a soft exploration. This time it was physical, hard, and a little angry. Anger because she’d been forced to keep a lid on these feelings for weeks now, anger because Andes made her feel this way, like she couldn’t control herself.

Andes insides were screaming for release, Clarke’s tongue deep inside her mouth. Clarke pulled back and started pulling Andes shirt off, Andes ripped at Clarke’s shirt, tossing it across the room, both desperate now. They came back together for another hot kiss, Andes fumbling at the top of Clarke’s pants, her hands shaking so much she couldn’t get them open. Clarke impatiently pushed them away and undid them herself and kicked them off, turning her attention to Andes shorts, loosening the top button, pulling them down to the ground. Andes lifted her up, turned and pushed Clarke against the wall, taking her legs and wrapping them around her waist, her mouth seeking out her breasts, sucking on them hard. Clarke had her arms wrapped around Andes head, moaning and panting. Andes thrust her fingers inside Clarke, still holding her against the wall, pumping her fingers up into Clarke, who was moaning wildly now, she wanted this right now, quickly, this one to take the edge off. She was so ready, their foreplay happening on the dance floor earlier. Her orgasm exploded inside her, strong, finally, after weeks of wanting, finally here, with Andes fingers deep inside, her forehead pressed against Clarke’s breasts, holding her up and against the wall through the entire thing.  
When Clarke was done shuddering, her body stopped shaking, Andes turned away from the wall, carried her over to her bed and they both fell onto it. Andes ended up on top, so she lifted herself off of Clarke and put her hand between her legs again, moving it all around, feeling her wetness. Clarke growled and flipped Andes over, she wanted to be in control. Andes laid back and Clarke took her wrists in her hands and held them above Andes head. When she let go, Andes moved her hands down to grab Clarke, but Clarke grabbed her wrists again and put them above Andes head, shook her head. Andes got the message, and left them above her head, seeing where Clarke was going with this, she could be submissive, for Clarke. Clarke straddled Andes thigh, rubbing herself along her leg, spreading her heat and wetness. Andes was about to lose it right then, but she steeled herself, willed herself to wait. Clarke ran her hands over Andes abs, feeling their hardness, then up to her breasts, where she squeezed and pinched Andes nipples, pulled at them until they were erect and begging to be sucked. She bent down and pulled one into her mouth, flicking her tongue over it while she sucked on it. She did the same to the other one, and Andes was whimpering now. She left her hands above her head, but it was hard, wanting to grab Clarke’s head and move it between her legs. She closed her eyes instead and stayed where Clarke wanted her to stay. When Clarke was done with Andes breasts, she put her one hand down next to Andes head, leaning on it while the other hand slipped between Andes legs, found her clit. Andes kept her eyes closed, reveling in the sensation, but Clarke wanted to see her, wanted Andes to look at her, “Look at me, “ Andes eyes snapped open and she locked eyes with Clarke. Clarke wanted to watch Andes eyes, watch them change color, watch them turn black when she came. Her fingers teased and pinched, storm clouds now, Andes writhing underneath her, Clarke slipped a finger inside, then two, while her thumb continued its rhythm against her clit, storm clouds getting darker, almost, Andes breathing now shallow and rapid, and she didn’t look away, Clarke continued grinding on Andes leg, getting herself close again, staring at Andes, eyes turning black now, as Andes lost control and moaned, Clarke feeling her orgasm pulse around her fingers, watching Andes through it all, feeling her own release now, exquisite and beautiful. They both watched each other come at the same time, and it felt like the most intimate moment of their lives. When they were done Clarke couldn’t move, she stayed straddling Andes, catching her breath. Andes started slipping down, sliding down the bed until her head was between Clarke’s legs. Clarke looked down at her, and as Andes looked back, she put her hands around Clarke’s hips and lowered Clarke to her mouth. Clarke braced herself with both hands on the bed now, still on her knees, her hips slowly rocking in time with Andes tongue, wondering if she had it in her, had in her to come three times. The pressure was gentle at first, but increasing as Clarke pressed down against her, Andes knew she needed more, and she was happy to oblige. Andes hand reached up and entered Clarke, slipped into her wetness, one, two, three fingers now, rubbing against her front wall. Clarke groaned in pleasure, this is what she wanted, like the last time, that deep release. She’d wanted this for weeks now, dreaming about it, desperate for this particular sensation. Andes found her spot, thrusting in and out faster now. Her tongue wildly licking, fingers fucking Clarke, taking her to oblivion, and Clarke felt the deep release coming on, she held her breath, and when the orgasm started she let it out, moaning loudly, grinding down against Andes mouth, riding her fingers until the waves of pleasure stopped. She collapsed on the bed when it was over, lying on her stomach, unable to move. Andes moved over her, lying on her back, kissing her neck. Between the dancing, the drinking and the sex, both of them were spent. They stayed like that for a while, not speaking. Andes felt Clarke fall asleep, felt her breath even out. She wanted to fight to stay awake so she could enjoy the moment longer, enjoy the feelings in her heart, but she was exhausted. Right before she fell asleep, _“Ai hod yu in.”_  
The words slipped out before she could stop them, the softest whisper. I love you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have a little work to do now, the next couple chapters aren't done yet. Then end ones are, but not these. I'll try and get them finished.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things aren't so good the morning after.

The next morning, Clarke woke up feeling a little hung over. Her eyes shot open when the memories starting coming back. Andes was wrapped around her, they were in Clarke’s bed, and Clarke groaned inside. Well, she caved in alright. Now another memory came back, _“Ai hod yu in.”_ She heard it, and she wondered if Andes would even remember saying it. She’d heard the words before, spoken between Bellamy and Echo, between Octavia and Lincoln. This was not good. This is exactly what Clarke wanted to avoid. She just wanted something physical, no feelings, just lust, not love. And now Andes thought she was in love. Oh god. How was she going to handle this? She had made a promise to herself, that this wouldn’t happen, and she was going to do everything in her power to keep that promise. No good could come of this. She tried to get out of bed without disturbing Andes, softly lifted her arms and took them off, slipped her legs away from her. She did manage to do it without waking her, and made her way to the bathroom.

Of course Andes was awake, and unfortunately, she remembered everything. And here was Clarke, slipping out of bed again, not wanting to spend any more time with her. _Jok_ , why did she say it? How stupid could she be? The one thing that could drive Clarke away, the one stupid thing, and she said it. And she knew Clarke heard her, she just knew it. And now everything would probably be different, because she was an idiot. Clarke came out of the bathroom and Andes pretended that she was still asleep. Clarke slipped out of the room and left her there. She rolled over onto her back, glad her cast was off now, glad she could choose to leave if that’s what was needed. She got up and went to the bathroom, took a shower to rinse off, wiping the remnants of makeup off her eyes. She made her way down to breakfast and was greeted by everyone, back slapping, telling her how awesome she was last night. Andes barely acknowledged them, looking around for Clarke. She didn’t see her, so she just sat down next to Harper.

“Hey girl, how you feeling?”

“A little hung over, I think.” Andes said.

“Join the club. I don’t think Raven will be getting up for a while.”

Andes was thankful for that, she didn’t want to face any questions. She wasn’t sure how much Harper saw, so she innocently asked, “you seen Clarke?”

“Nope.” Great, now Clarke was avoiding her.

After she was done eating she made her way to see Abby.

“Good morning Andes, how are you feeling this morning?”

“Ok, little tired.”

“I heard you were great last night, sorry I missed it.”

“Yeah well, you didn’t miss much.”

“That’s not what I heard. How’s the wrist?”

“Good, was hoping you could show me some exercises for it, strengthening stuff, stretching.”

“Sure,” and Abby sat her down and went over various things she should do to get the flexibility back.

“Have you seen Clarke?”

“I saw her earlier, but I don’t know where she got to. You ok? You don’t look so good.”

“Must have been the ale from last night.”

“Are you sick?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you later, thank you for the exercises.”

“You’re welcome.”

Andes didn’t see Clarke all day. She was in bed when Clarke finally showed up. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Clarke had no idea had to handle this, she obsessed over it all day, stayed away because she was afraid to bring it up.

Andes felt the elephant in the room. She didn’t want to question Clarke, because she had no right to do so. They weren’t together. They were roommates. Roommates who had sex twice, fabulous sex, casual sex, at least for one of them.

Clarke decided to try and play it light, because, really, Andes may not even know she heard her. “What did you do today?” She tried to sound bright, she knew she didn’t pull it off.

“Not much, took the dogs for a run, helped at the gardens. How about you?”

“Went out on patrol with Echo and Bellamy, helped my mom at med.”

“Well, I’m pretty tired, so I guess I’ll say good night.”

“Good night.” Clarke knew, she knew that Andes knew. The awkwardness between them was palpable.

 

Then next day Andes went for a long walk outside the fences with the dogs. Clarke definitely put a wall up between them now, and Andes didn’t know how to break through it. She was distant, and Andes couldn’t reach her. She came back to the Ark and circled around to the back side of it, sliding down with her back against the wall. This is where Raven found her an hour later.

“Yo, where’ve you been all day? The last two days actually.”

“Around.”

“You know I got a bad leg, making me walk all the way back here to find you is not cool.“ Raven sat down next to her. “What’s up? Andes just shook her head, not sure she felt like talking about it. Raven never saw Andes despondent, and she decided she didn’t like it at all. “C’mon goddess, I know the cure for this.” Raven led her back inside, through the mess hall which was empty now, dinner over, and into the kitchen area. She stopped in front of a locked cabinet.

“What are we doing here?”

“This is where they keep the liquor. They don’t want people getting bad habits during the week, so they keep it locked up until Saturday night.”

“Do you have the key?”

“Hell no, keys are overrated, I have skills. Mad skills. “ Raven proceeded to pick the lock and open the cabinet, taking out a bottle, shutting the door, replacing the lock. “Let’s go to control, nobody should be there now.”

After an hour of doing shots, both girls were drunk off their asses, especially Andes, because she wasn’t a big drinker, and she hadn’t eaten all day.

“Dude, what gives, you gotta talk to me, we’re besties, we’re practically married.”

Andes had the side of her head lying on the table. “I did a stupid thing, I did a slupid thing,” she said, slurring her words.

“What, what, what?” Raven was having trouble speaking too.

“I said I love you to Clarke after we had sex the other night.”

“Holy sheet, shit, you said that? Why’d you say that? What did she say?”

“I thought she was asleep, “ Andes said as she picked her head up now to look at Raven.

“Then how do you know she heard you,“ Raven said, pointing at Andes.

“Because she’s been ignoring me ever since.”

“Oh…………………..yeah, she heard you. Shit. Did you talk about it?”

“No. What? No, I didn’t talk to her about it, ‘hey Clarke, about that thing the other night, you know, the I love you thing? Yeah, sorry about that.’ Maybe she’ll just let me take it back, right? Take it backseys.“ Andes paused a moment, “I said it in Trig so I didn’t even think she would understand it.”

“You said it in Trig?” Andes nodded, “oh, that’s romantic.”

“I thought so,” she said in a small voice.

“You’re cute.”

“Thanks, you, dude two.” She looked at Raven and thought there was two of her now. “She’s probably mad at me, probably hates me now. She can’t even look at me.”

“You stop that, who wouldn’t want to look at you? You’re pretty.” Raven poked at Andes, missed, concentrated, then poked her again and this time made contact with her shoulder. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s stubborn. She’s being stubborn. I know she likes you, it’s fucking obvious, to everyone,” yelling ‘everyone’ and continually poking her.

“Well, she’s sure gotta a funny way of showing it. Stop poking me!” Andes plopped her head back onto the table. “My head’s too heavy right now. I think I’m drunk.”

“You think so? Doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out. And I guess since you’re the genius, that would be you. Figuring it out or me, cause I’m geniusy too….” Raven stopped, confusing herself.

“I don’t know what to do. It’s sucky.”

“Sucky? Yeah, it’s sucky. Maybe it’ll blow over.” Raven tried to play the optimist.

Andes looked at her, raised her eyebrows. “Blow over? I said I love you,” raising her voice on the last three words.

“Yeah, that’s tricky." Raven rested her head in her hand, "What does it sound like in Trig?”

_“Ai hod yu in.”_

“Awe, that’s pretty.”

“I know, right?” Andes looked at her with such puppy dog eyes.

“Aye hod yone.”

“No, _Ai hod yu in_.”

“Hey hud you done”

“No, _Ai hod yu in_.”

“That’s what I said, Hey hud you done.” Andes grabbed Ravens mouth, pushing it together to try and help her as she pronounced the words again, “hey hod ya fun.”

Andes let her mouth go, frustrated, “No, that’s not even close.”

“Ok, I give up. How do you say fuck?”

“ _Jok_.”

“ _Jok_.”

“Oh, you get that one right.”

Raven giggled. “How was the sex?”

“Fucking fantastic, as usual.”

“As usual? Wait, wait, I knew it, I knew it. You did it before, before you got here, right?” Andes could only nod. “Wow. Impressive. Clarke never said a thing this whole time.”

“Clarke is great in bed, I mean, really great, I mean, the best I’ve ever had.”

“Ok, ok,” Raven put her hands up, “she’s my best friend and all, but I don’t want to hear what she does in bed.”

But Andes ignored her, “she has this way of kissing me that…. “

Raven put her hands over her ears, “I’m not listening to this, la la la la la.”

That made Andes smile, for the first time in a couple days. She took Raven’s hands down from her ears. “I’m sorry, I guess that is a little too much……. “ she paused because she was having trouble with the word, “inframa, informtion.” She felt dizzy now. “I don’t feel so good, I gotta go to bed.” She went to get up and fell down on the floor.

Raven looked over at her, “buddy, you ok?”

Andes rolled over on her back, “yes, I must have slipped on something.”

“Probably that invisible banana peel,” she said, snorting at her own stupid joke.

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Let’s go, my place is closer.” Raven got up very unsteadily, and reached down for Andes. They both swayed when they stood up. “Whoa, ok. If we lean into each other, then maybe we can walk without falling over.” They made their way out the door and staggered down towards Raven’s room. Wick opened the door when he heard the commotion outside the door. “Goddess is crashing here tonight,“ was the only explanation Raven gave him.

 

When Clarke woke up that morning, she looked over at Andes bed and she realized that she never came home. She slept horribly. She kept waiting for her to show up. Now she became worried. She got up and dressed quickly, left the room for breakfast. There was still no sign of her at breakfast. She didn’t see Raven either, so she went to her room and knocked. The door was opened by a very hung over Raven. “Geez Rav.” Clarke smelled alcohol, “what? Were you drinking?”

“Maybe.”

“How did you manage that? You know what? I don’t want to know. Have you seen Andes?”  
Raven opened the door further and Clarke looked into the room. Andes was on the floor, sound asleep, hugging a pillow. Clarke felt the beginnings of a tender feeling, but banished it immediately. “What happened?” she asked as she looked at Raven.

“We drank a little too much last night. She needed to talk to someone, since you aren’t talking to her right now.”

“So she talked to you? You’re supposed to be my best friend.”

“She needed someone Clarke.”

“What did she tell you?”

“Everything. Evidently when she’s drunk, she spills her guts. Just an FYI for the future.”

Clarke just shook her head and walked away. She heard Raven shut the door. Clarke was annoyed, annoyed that they talked, although she had no right to be, because she had been ignoring Andes. She could see the hurt in her eyes every time she looked at her, which wasn’t much, since she’d also been staying away from her. Clarke hated herself right now. Hurting Andes was killing her, but she knew she had to do this, she had to stay strong. She knew that Andes would probably leave, her arm healed now. How was she going to feel when that happened? She had no idea.

Later that afternoon Clarke was walking outside, and she saw Andes, she had her sword in her hand and she was swinging it at their training post, over and over again. It was her healed hand. She was probably working it to build the strength back up. Her back muscles were flexing with each swing, she was soaked with sweat. Clarke took a deep breath, waited for the rush of lust, but felt nothing. Her demon locked away, locked away behind the wall, hopefully locked away for good. Clarke thought she should be proud of herself, but she felt shame instead.


	15. Chapter 15

The next few days were uneventful, both keeping their distance from the each other. And now it was Saturday night, and Clarke didn’t feel like going out. Andes hadn’t been around all day. She was amazed at the change between them. A change precipitated by Clarke. Now they barely spoke, where before they never stopped talking, sharing what happened during their respective days. The laughing, the flirting, it was all gone now, replaced by coolness. Clarke felt the stirrings of regret, so she decided she should go out and be with her friends.

When she got to the mess hall, things were in full swing. She spotted Raven and Bellamy and headed over to their table. “Hey guys, “

“Hey Clarkie, what’s happening? “ Raven said. Clarke had been a little cool towards her since the incident last week, so it was nice to see her.

“Not much, just thought I would come out and hang with everyone.” She scanned the room and didn’t see Andes at first. Then her eyes went to the dance floor and there she was, dancing with Gomez. A sharp stab of jealousy shot through her heart, and she was totally caught off guard by it. Her pulse started to quicken. She quickly looked away because she didn’t want to catch Andes eye. So much for locked away demons. She took a couple of deep breaths and brought her pounding heart back under control. Echo came over and pulled Bellamy up for a slow dance, leaving Raven and Clarke alone at the table. Clarke couldn’t help but remember her last slow dance. And now she watched Andes holding someone else on the dance floor.

“You ok, Clarke?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You just look a little pale.”

“No, I’m fine,” She said, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, ok. Andes and Gomez look comfy out there.” Raven was baiting her, she was annoyed with the way Clarke was treating Andes, and even though she was Clarke’s best friend, she wasn’t going to give her a free pass on this.

Clarke shrugged her shoulders, “It’s none of my business.”

Raven rolled her eyes, “Ok then.”

When the dance was over, Andes headed over to say hi to Raven, not seeing Clarke next to her until too late. “Hey, you. Two.” She felt trapped, it would look odd if she turned away after coming over, so she just sat down next to them both.

“Hey goddess, looking good as usual.”

“Thank you, I might say the same.” She turned to Clarke then, “Clarke, how are you?”

“Good thanks.” Clarke was in a mood now. There was too much going on in her head and it was making her angry.

Raven was appalled at how things had deteriorated between the two of them. She thought maybe she could shock them out of it, make then realize how stupid they were being. “So,” Raven raised her eyebrows at Andes, “how’s Gomez? You two looked tight out there.”

“Oh, well she asked me to dance. I felt bad because I always turn her down. “ And now she looked at Clarke, who kept her mouth shut, because she didn’t trust what would come out of it.

“Yeah, she’s got the hots for you, has for a while. She’s been waiting to get you in bed since you got here.” Raven said.

Andes looked at Clarke again, “Ah, no, I wouldn’t do that.” Because no matter what, she didn’t want to be with anyone else right now, even with Clarke acting like an ass.

Clarke felt something snap in her brain. The smart play was keeping her mouth shut, she knew this, and she had been exercising so much self control recently, but the words came out before she could stop them, “Go, go sleep with her, I don’t care.”

Andes and Raven stared at Clarke now. Raven instantly regretting the role she played in this escalation of tensions.

Andes voice almost shook now, “Why would I do that?”

Clarke was like a runaway train now, no stopping her. “Why not? She’s attractive, she wants you bad, go ahead, go for it. Enjoy yourself, I don’t care.” She was looking into Andes eyes now, challenging her, and she saw pain, and then she saw anger. And she didn’t like either color. Andes got up from the table and left. They saw her approach Gomez at the bar, whisper into her ear and walk out of the room with her.

“What are you doing?” Raven asked incredulously.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what the hell are you doing? Why did you just send Andes into Gomez’s arms?” Clarke didn’t respond to her question. “Clarke, in case you haven’t noticed, this world that we live in, sucks. It’s hard, it’s dangerous, it’s cruel, and people die, a lot of people die. If there is a sliver of happiness out there, you should grab it and run with it. That girl there, that girl cares about you, and she makes you happy, even though you refuse to admit it. You’ve built your walls and you’re hiding behind them. We’ve all lost people Clarke, all of us. But let me tell you something, if someone is gonna offer me love, I’m taking it. I took it. You have to let yourself feel again Clarke. We don’t have much time down here. It’s time to put Lexa behind you and move forward. She’s not here, she won’t keep you warm at night, she won’t make you laugh, she won’t hold you when you cry, she‘s gone, and I know that stinks, and maybe you think I’m being harsh, but it’s the reality of the situation. There,” pointing in the direction Andes went, “there’s someone who’s alive and well, ready to be everything to you. And you’re gonna let her get away? You’re nuts if you do.” Raven folded her arms across her chest after she finished her tirade.

Clarke just stared at the space behind her head. “Raven, I love you, and you’re my best friend, but don’t tell me how to feel, don’t tell me to put things behind me. I don’t want to, or maybe I’m just not ready to. “ With that she stood up and left the room, leaving Raven just staring after her, shaking her head.

Clarke stomped back to her room, and slammed the door. She paced around the room wildly. She couldn’t sort out her emotions. Raven’s words struck a nerve, and now she felt a crack in that wall, and knew she had to seal it back up. Falling in love with Andes was off the table. She was not going to let that happen, she could not let it happen. It would betray everything she had felt for Lexa. Who cares if she sleeps with someone else? But Clarke knew deep down that she did care.

Andes came into the room a couple hours later. Clarke was sitting in bed drawing in her book, and she didn’t look up when she entered. Andes sat on her bed and stared at Clarke. She was angry still, angry at herself for feeling anything, but mostly angry at Clarke for not feeling. Clarke felt the negative energy from across the room. Without looking up she asked, “Where’ve you been?”

“Where’ve I been?” Andes was dumbfounded that Clarke even had to ask. “I’ve been where you wanted me to be.” Clarke flinched at the anger in her voice, this new voice that she hadn’t heard before. She got up and went to her bookshelf, looking through some books.

“And where’s that?”

Andes huffed, “With Gomez.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

“Yes,” Andes main goal right now was to inflict as much pain on Clarke as she had been inflicting on her. She knew she should stop acting like this, but was powerless to stop.

Clarke slowly turned around, “You slept with her?” her face showing disgust.

“Yes, I slept with her. It’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? Isn’t that what you wanted, you practically begged me to sleep with her. Let’s see, what was it you said, oh, yeah, ‘go, go sleep with her, I don’t care.’” Andes knew Clarke felt that one, this time the flinch was visible. Score one for her, how nice, hurting the person you loved.

“I can’t believe you slept with her.” Clarke’s anger was showing now, she wasn’t keeping it inside. “But that’s what you do, isn’t it? Satisfy your needs?”

“Yeah, that’s what I do. You know me so well. So tell me, if you know that’s what I do, why the hell are you so mad?“ She came across the room now, stalking Clarke, driving her back towards the wall, almost touching her now, their faces inches apart. “Is it because you wanted me back here, so I could fuck you. Satisfy your needs? Don’t like to share your fuck buddy? Is that it? That has to be it, doesn’t it? Because if that’s not it, that means you’re jealous, and if you’re jealous, that means you care. But we all know you don’t care, you don’t want to care. You only care about Lexa. Lexa, the ghost, who’s not around anymore, she’s dead Clarke, and she’s… ” Clarke snapped at the mention of Lexa’s name for the second time tonight, and her hand snaked out and slapped Andes across the face. Andes was still for half a second, her head turned, feeling the sting, physically and mentally. She slowly looked at Clarke, and she could see the fury in her eyes, and maybe hate. They stared at each other for a bit, Clarke realizing the enormity of what she just did, seeing the look in Andes eyes. She knew she was shattered, Clarke had destroyed her.

She reached out to her, “Andes, “

“No, “ Andes said as she headed for the door. She had her hand on the door knob, and turned back towards Clarke, not looking at her though, feeling the shame of what she did, all anger gone, knowing how she just hurt Clarke, hurt her enough that Clarke hit her. “I’m leaving tomorrow, “ and with that she opened the door and left. Clarke sat back down on the bed, put her head in her hands. What have they become? How did this happen? How did they get here?

Andes went to the computer room, and sat in the corner, waiting for Raven, wanting to say goodbye. It would be hours, but she didn’t care. She sat with her back against the wall, on the floor, her knees pulled up and held tight against her chest. She didn’t seek out a chair for comfort, she wanted to punish herself for what she did, what she said to Clarke. She would leave tomorrow, and put all of this behind her. Go back to being on her own, her books for company and her dogs for company. This love stuff was awful, but she was strong, she’d survived a lot worse, right? She put her head back and finally fell asleep.

_Andes, where are you? Andes, show yourself little one. I’m up here, she called, looking down at Lexa below her. What are you doing up there? I don’t want to go today. Why not? I hate it. Everybody hates me there, I’m no good at anything. Come down here and we’ll talk about it, ok? Andes made her way down and stood in front of Lexa. Lexa got down on her knees so she could be at eye level, her hands on Andes shoulders. Now, what’s all this talk about people hating you. They make fun of me. The call me little freak. They call you that because they’re jealous. They know you’re special. I know you’re special. I see greatness in you, little one. One day, you will shine the brightest of all of us. How can you say that, you’re the best, you’ll be the brightest. That’s not my fate. How do you know that? I feel it in my bones. Well, I don’t know how I can be great, I don’t want to kill anyone, and you can’t be great if you don’t kill people. Lexa affectionately cupped Andes face in her hands, smiling at her. Sometimes, I think you were not meant for this time, you were meant to be born in another. Now, come on, she stood up and took Andes hand in hers. Let’s go._

Andes woke with a start, the dream still vivid in her mind. She hadn’t thought of that moment in years. It had been forgotten, buried with the other memories of happier times. Lexa thought she was special. What would she think of her now, hurting Clarke the way she did. Andes touched her cheek, the sensation still there, from Clarke’s hand. She heard Raven come in, and she stood up.

“Andes, you’re early, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I want to run that program today, see if you can figure out what’s going wrong, cause I know you’re not just another pretty face!” She looked at Andes with a wide grin, then noticed that Andes was not smiling back. “Dude, what’s up, you look like someone stole your cookie.”

“I’m leaving today, now actually. And I wanted to say goodbye.”

“What? Leaving? Why, wait, what? Does this have to do with that little tiff with Clarke last night? Cause she’ll get over it, like she always does, and things will be back to normal.”

“Yeah, I don’t think things will be going back to normal any time soon. We kinda had a fight last night back in the room, things were bad, things were said, not very nice things. Things you can’t take back with an apology. And, I told her I slept with Gomez.”

“Did you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Just to make her mad. Just to hurt her. I said some other stuff too. “

“You can apologize for anything Andes, at least that’s what I’ve always found.” Raven was starting to get upset, Andes could tell. “You can’t leave, girl, you’re one of my besties. We have a blast together, who is gonna laugh at my stupid jokes?”

“I’m sorry Raven. I love you, not like that, “ pointing at Raven, like they always do when they said they loved each other. Andes closed her eyes, “I have to go, my head is not right. I have to get my head right.”

“Clarke really fucked you up, didn’t she?” Andes just nodded. Raven felt so bad for her friend. She knew she wasn’t used to this stuff, feelings, love. “I get it, I do. I’m gonna miss you like a mother fucker.” She wrapped her arms around Andes and squeezed her hard, holding back tears. “You’ll come visit me though, right? You’ll come hang out. Please say you’ll come back and hang out with me.”

Andes smiled a sad smile, “I will. After my head is clear, I’ll come back, and we’ll rule the world. Two fucking brainiacs, writing code and shit.” Raven smiled at that. “Tell everyone I said goodbye, ok? I don’t think I can handle the questions. I’ll just go see Abby and be on my way.”

Raven nodded and stuck out her arm, “May we meet again, friend of mine.”

“We will meet again, friend.” Andes said as she grasped Raven’s forearm. With that Andes turned and walked out, heading back to her room, wondering if Clarke was there, and if she was, how that was going to go. She opened the door and the room was empty. The bed didn’t even look slept in. Andes quickly gathered her things, put back on the clothes that she came in, put on her swords, her bow, her daggers. They felt like old friends. She wanted to be on her way before everyone was up and about. She knew Abby was an early riser. Clarke too, so she looked for both of them, she had to face Clarke, she owed her a goodbye. She looked all around and couldn’t find her, so she made her way to the med bay and saw Abby at her desk. “Hey.”

Abby looked up, saw what Andes was wearing and knew what was happening. “You’re leaving?” Andes nodded. “What happened?”

Andes took a deep breath, “Clarke and I had big fight last night. But I had already decided I needed to leave before that.”

“Andes, fighting is part of a relationship. You fight, you make up, it’s all part of it.”

“Agreed. If one was in a relationship. Don’t forget Abby, we’re not, as Clarke is always quick to point out.” She rubbed at her forehead. “ We said some nasty things last night. Well, really I did.”

“Honey, whatever you said, I’m sure that Clarke will forgive you. “

“She may forgive me, but I won’t forgive me.” Abby stood up and pulled Andes into a hug.

“Andes, please, talk to her, try and work it out. I think we’ve all gotten used to you around here. I know I have. You always brighten my day, and no matter what Clarke says, I’m telling you, you brighten hers too. I should know, I’m her mother. And I know she can be stubborn, she gets that from me. But keep after her, don’t give up on her.”

Andes felt the tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t, I just can’t right now. I’m so sorry. ”

Abby held her tight, not wanting to let her go. “You are always welcome here.”

Andes pulled back, “Goodbye Abby, thank you for everything.”

“Don’t say goodbye, aren’t we supposed to say ‘may we meet again’, because that’s sounds a lot less final, ok?”

“Ok, may we meet again.” Andes turned and slowly walked away. But before she went through the door, she turned back to Abby, who was still watching her, “I looked for Clarke, I couldn’t find her, please tell her I’m sorry, and tell her I said goodbye.” Abby nodded and Andes opened the door and left.

Andes made it through the gate with no more contact. She waved to the guards, who opened it for her. When she was outside the gate, the dogs were there, wagging their tails, looking happy. Andes was jealous. She walked up the hill away from Arkadia. When she was about to enter the forest, she saw Clarke standing there.

“Were you just going to leave and not say goodbye?”

“I looked for you, I couldn’t find you.” Jaks rushed up to Clarke, and sat down next to her, looking up with devoted eyes. Clarke reached down and patted his head.

“So, you really are leaving?”

“Yeah. I think it’s for the best.”

Clarke nodded. She agreed, but it still hurt so damn much. She knew that it just wasn’t their time, and didn’t know if it ever would be. Clarke had too many demons. “Andes, I’m sorry I hit you, I can’t believe I did that.”

“It’s ok, I deserved it. I’m so sorry for the things I said. I was so angry.”

“I know, but I made you angry.” They both just stood there for a moment. “Andes, please don’t love me.”

Andes hesitated a few seconds, looking down at the dirt. “Too late,” she whispered.

“I made a promise to myself, “ Clarke said.

“We already broke one of your promises, why not another?” One last shot.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m sorry I’m hurting you now. I just don’t feel like I have a lot to give to someone. I’ve lost too many people that I love, and I don’t want to go through that again. I guess it’s easier to not feel anything too deep right now.”

“It’s ok Clarke, I’ve survived worst, I’ll survive this.”

Clarke was just staring at her now, getting a last look, not knowing if she would ever see her again, ignoring the pain that that thought caused. “Here, this is for you.” She handed Andes a envelope. “Don’t open it til you get home, ok?”

Andes looked at the paper and nodded. Looking down at Jaks, “You should keep Jaks.”

“What? Oh my god, no. He’s your favorite Andes, I could never take him away from you.”

“Please, I insist. Look at him, he adores you. Promise me that whenever you leave Arkadia, you’ll have him with you. He’ll protect you, and you’ll protect him.”

“Andes, I can’t.”

“Please Clarke, it’s just one request, my last one, please, keep him and take care of him for me.”

“Ok, I’ll keep him.” She reached down to hug him close. She couldn’t refuse Andes request, she’d done enough to her as it was.

“Thank you.” Neither one knew what to say next.

They were standing close to each other, close enough to touch. Andes leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips and Clarke whimpered on the inside, “See you round beautiful.”

“ _Leidon_ , Andes.” Goodbye.

Clarke watched her walk away, wondered if she would turn around. She didn’t. She wanted to call her back, tell her that maybe she just needed more time. But she thought better of it. Andes would be better off without her and her baggage, and Clarke’s heart could stay intact.

Andes walked away, she didn’t look back, she didn’t want to, afraid she would lose it. After a few hours, she opened Clarke’s envelope, and pulled out a drawing that she had done. Andes slid down to the ground as she looked at it, tears slipping from her eyes. Clarke had drawn the both of them, the likeness incredible. Andes had her arms around Clarke, facing her, her forehead touching the side of Clarke’s head, her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open. Clarke looking straight ahead, her hand over Andes heart, a serious look on her face. It was beautiful. Andes just stared at it. Now she had something to remember her by. She rolled it up and placed it inside her bindings, over her heart, because that’s where Clarke belonged.


	16. Chapter 16

2 months later

Andes placed her swords on the ground, staring at the four bounty hunters surrounding her. The last two months had been hell. She just didn’t care anymore, she was tired of the pain, tired of thinking of Clarke, ready for it all to be over. The loneliness of the past two months was unbearable. Death by a thousand cuts wasn’t as painful as this slow death without Clarke. She’d face her punishment, take it like a warrior. One of the bounty hunters grabbed her daggers from her thighs, told her to take off her bow and arrow. “Take them, I don’t care, you don’t need to tie me up, I’m coming willingly.”

The bounty hunters stared at her, looked at each other, not trusting her. They’d been chasing her for the last two months. They were contracted by the desert clan as soon as word got out that Andes was in Tondc. One of the men got out his rope, they weren’t taking her word. “I told you, you don’t have to tie me up, I’m surrendering, don’t you know what that means you moron?” He still came closer, reaching for her hands, “Do not tie me up,” she said slowly and forcibly. He put his staff down on the ground and grabbed her wrist, and as soon as he went to loop the rope around it, Andes snapped, she won’t be tied up. She grabbed his wrist and head butted him so hard he fell backwards, blood pouring out of both their heads. She reached for his dagger and threw it at the legs of the second warrior. The third warrior drew his sword and came at her, she picked up the staff and parried his sword easily, clipped him in the back of the legs and then smashed him in the head. Suddenly Octavia was there, taking care of the fourth one. 

All four men were soon incapacitated in some fashion. “How long have you been following me?”

“A few hours. You’re getting sloppy,” Octavia said. Andes didn’t say anything as she tied up the bounty hunters, taking her weapons back. Octavia came over to her and gave her a cloth for her head wound. Andes took it and pressed it to her head. “Let me see it, I think you’re gonna need stitches.” Andes took down the cloth and Octavia took it from her, she stared at the black blood, realization dawning on her. Looking back at Andes, “who else knows?”

“Clarke, Indra.”

“That’s it?” Andes nodded. Octavia looked closely at the wound. “You definitely need stitches, do you have any thread.” Andes pulled it out of her bag and handed it to O. “C’mon, let’s go wash it down at the creek.” They walked in silence down to the creek, where O rinsed the rag and Andes threaded the needle. “Over here.” O sat with her back against a tree, “lie down, put your head in my lap so I can see.” Andes did as she was told. The cut was above her hairline, so there would be no visible scar. She didn’t flinch when O pierced her skin with the needle, pulling the thread through repeating the process. Lincoln had taught her how to stitch, and she had become pretty good at it. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have death wish?”

“Yeah, I guess I do. Why were you following me? Did Clarke send you?”

“No,” she saw the disappointment in her eyes. She choose not to tell her that Clarke was a shell of herself these past two months, losing weight, not sleeping. It wasn’t her place to give any kind of hope to Andes, because no one really knew what Clarke was doing. “Indra sent me.”

“What does she want?”

Octavia finished stitching her up, and admired her work. “She wants you to scout ice nation.” 

“Why?” Andes sat up now.

“Rumors are Danko is amassing a huge army, getting ready to march down to Polis.”

“Why does she need me to do it?”

“You’re the only one who knows that territory. She already sent two others and they didn’t make it back. Well, part of them made it back.”

“What’s in it for me?” The Andes of six months ago would have jumped at the chance to help someone. This new Andes was bitter and selfish.

“A job, something to make you get your head out of your ass. We need you, everyone needs you.” She didn’t mention the name she wanted to hear. “If Danko’s army is as big as they say, we’re all in trouble.” 

Andes sighed. She knew how foolish she was being. She looked at Octavia, and realized just how foolish she was. Octavia lost her love, watched him get executed, and here Andes was acting like a petulant child because Clarke didn’t love her. Maybe this is what she needed, to be useful, get her mind off of things. It would take all her guile to make it up through ice nation lands, there would be no time for mooning over Clarke. “Ok, why the hell not?” 

“Good. If you leave now, you should make it back in about 6 or 7 weeks. When you get back, come look for me. I’m either at Tondc or Arkadia.”

“Ok. Thanks for the help back there.”

“No worries.” She turned to go, but then turned back, “Andes, be careful.” Andes nodded and Octavia left her. 

 

Octavia had her meeting at Arkadia today. She had become the liaison between Tondc and Arkadia. Indra wanted to make sure the lines of communication were open at all times between the two clans. She was still about half a mile away when she stumbled upon Clarke. She was sitting against a tree, Jaks by her side, sketch book on her lap. She looked thin, too thin. Octavia didn’t understand her at all. Why she was torturing herself. “Clarke, what are you doing out here?”

“Just hanging out, I like to come out here to think.”

O sat down next to her. And against her better judgment she said, “I saw your friend the other day.”

Clarke turned to look at her, dark circles under her eyes, “Andes?”

O nodded. The stories had been flooding back to Arkadia since Andes left, about the blond who killed a clan leader, surfacing again after all these years. Clarke knew that Andes was being reckless, living on the edge, getting into fights. She knew that desert clan, still thirsting for revenge, sent out bounty hunters to bring her in. Death by a thousand cuts was waiting for her, if she chose. It had been eating Clarke alive, the worry, the pain, her guilt, her memories. She couldn’t escape any of it anymore. The walls she had carefully built around her heart had crumbled soon after Andes left. And as much as she tried to build them back up again, she failed. “Where did you see her?”

“A few miles north of Tondc. She was surrendering to bounty hunters. Just giving herself up.” 

Clarke was scared now “Octavia, this story has a happy ending, right, please don’t tell me she was caught and dragged away.”

“Relax Clarke, she freaked out when they went to tie her up, head butted one guy, took out a couple more, I helped with the last one. I guess her death wish wasn’t as strong as we thought.” Clarke visibly relaxed when she knew that Andes got away. “I stitched her up. I saw her blood. She said you know?”

Clarke nodded, “yes, she asked me to keep it quiet. She didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Well, I had a heart to heart with her, gave her a kick in the pants. I think I got through to her.”

“What did you say to her?”

“That’s between me and her.” Octavia didn’t want to tell Clarke that they sent her on a mission that might end up being more dangerous than bounty hunters.

“Thank you.”

“I’m heading to Arkadia, did you want to walk with me? Or did you want to hang here for a while?”

“I’ll come with you.” They started the half hour walk back to camp, not speaking, each lost in their own thoughts. 

When they made it inside the Ark fences, Octavia went to look for Kane, and Clarke went to look for her mom. Right now she needed to talk to someone, someone who loved her unconditionally. When it came to matters of state, Clarke was in full control, but in matters of the heart, sometimes she still needed her mom. Abby was in the cafeteria area. Clarke sat down next to her. 

“Hey honey, you ok?”

Clarke shrugged, “Octavia’s here with news from Tondc.”

“Ok, I’ll be right there.” Abby could tell something was on Clarke’s mind, she grabbed her hand, “what’s wrong? “

Clarke sighed, “She saw Andes the other day.”

“Andes? Oh god, is she ok?” Abby had heard the stories also, and had been worried herself for the last two months.

“Yeah, for now.” Clarke was still not sharing her thoughts.

“Ok, what gives Clarke?”

“Mom, I’m just so confused. My feelings are all jumbled up.” Clarke put her head in her hands now. “There’s an emotional tug of war going on inside me, and I feel like it’s slowly eating away at me. I feel like, if I start caring about someone else, I’m betraying Lexa in some way. I’m dishonoring her memory, her love. And then sometimes I’m scared, because I don’t think about her, and sometimes I forget how she sounded. How can that be? I loved her, I really did. I thought she was the one, I thought we would be together for a long time, that’s how much I felt for her.“

“Time moves us along. You can’t stop that Clarke. And no one is questioning your love for Lexa, and you shouldn’t question it either. It was real, but we move on, we all move on. I loved your father, so much, you know that. But down here, things are different. Things move a lot faster. Life is shorter, time moves much quicker down here. When something developed between me and Marcus, I let it happen. It doesn’t mean that I love your father any less. He’s still in here,” she said as she pointed to her heart. 

“When Andes was around, I felt like a moth drawn to a flame. I wanted to get close, but was afraid to get burned. She has this energy, and I just wanted to be around it. And now I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again. And if I do see her again, and let myself feel, what if I lose her, like I lost Lexa? I’m so fucked up.”

“You can’t live your life scared that something’s going to happen, something bad. You can’t shut yourself down either, it’s not how we’re wired. I believe that you will see her again. And maybe when you do, you’ll be ready for something more with her.”

“I doubt she even wants me anymore.”

“Don’t say that, of course she’ll want you. You’re a wonderful, loving , caring person and you’re strong Clarke, you’re so strong.”

“I think you’re a little biased,” Clarke said with a sad smile. “And it’s been months now since we’ve even seen each other.”

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.” Clarke felt a little better, she stood up and Abby pulled her in for a hug. “It’ll be ok, hon, it will be.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, there's only 4 chapters left. I'll post two today and two tomorrow, enjoy!

Andes had been traveling for a month now. She was deep in Azgeda territory, miles north of their capital, and she was staring at the largest army she had ever seen. Spread out on the plains, there must have been thousands of warriors here. She saw a few clan banners, desert being one of them. She knew she needed to get close to the command tent. She was pretty sure she could disguise herself enough to move amongst them, she had already dyed her hair black. If she wore her mask, she would look like everyone else. She needed to find out what Danko had planned.

It took a few days, but she finally was able to get close. She infiltrated the broadleaf clan, they were part of the command tent guard rotation. Now she just had to wait for Danko and his generals to meet. Another few days went by, and finally they were assembling. She was as close as she could stand at the backside of the tent, standing guard. Thank god Danko was loud, subtlety was not his strong suit. Andes heard it all. They were going to kidnap the rest of the clan leaders, bring them north, try and coerce their fealty. They had warriors in place now to execute this part of the plan. Then they would march south, and destroy anyone who didn’t kneel to Danko. They would kill the clan leaders whose people didn’t kneel to Danko. Andes knew what this meant, and fear shot through her. Real fear, fear for Clarke, if she was a target. She had to leave as quickly as possible and make it back to Tondc to let Indra know, but she couldn’t leave yet, it would draw attention to her. As soon as she was relieved from her post later that night, she took off, running as hard as she could. She met up with Sampson and Midnight, and now all three of them were running. Andes was afraid, because she knew she was too far away to save Clarke, she would never make it back in time.

It took weeks to get close to Tondc. Andes was exhausted, but she kept going. She was still half a day from the village when she heard voices. She quickly left the trail and went up into the trees. Relief flooded through her when she saw Octavia and Indra leading a group of 15 warriors. She dropped down, calling out to them. Octavia rushed up to her and embraced her. “Andes, shit, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” she said.

Indra came up to her also, clapped her on the back. “You made it back in one piece. “

“Yeah, I made it back as fast as I could. Bad things are about to happen.”

“I’m afraid they already started.” Indra said.

A pain shot through Andes heart, “Clarke?” She looked at Octavia, who shook her head.

“Taken, along with the other 6 clan leaders. Happened a couple days ago.”

Andes yelled out her frustration, she didn’t make it back in time. “I heard their plan, I left as soon as I could to get back down here.”

Indra put a hand on her Andes’ shoulder, “It’s ok, and you’re here now. I don’t think they’ll hurt her. We think they’re using them all as leverage.”

“They are, but they’ll kill them if they don’t get what they want. He’s got a huge army, over two thousand warriors. I saw five clan banners that are with him, but there are others there that I don’t even recognize. They’ll be marching now, heading south. They’re going to destroy everyone in their path.”

“Let’s convene the council, we’ll meet at Tondc tomorrow, it’s more centrally located than Polis.” She called out orders to some of her men, sending them out to make sure everyone would be there. “You two go back to Arkadia and bring their council, we need everybody’s input.” Octavia and Andes nodded and headed back, taking two of the warriors with them, and the four of them headed back to Arkadia as fast as they could.

They were running for a couple of hours, when they stopped for a water break by the river. They had just another hour or so and they should be back at the Ark. Andes was resting for bit, she’d been running for weeks now, with barely any rest. She didn’t know how she was still on her feet. Suddenly one of the men shouted to Octavia. Andes saw them by the water looking at something. Octavia looked back at her, panic in her eyes, “Andes,” she shouted.

Andes immediately ran over to them, and when she looked down her heart broke. Jaks was lying there, an arrow in his side, covered in blood, so much blood that you couldn’t see his gray fur, barely breathing, but somehow still alive. “Oh my god, Jaks, Jaks,” she knelt by his side, putting her hand on his head, stroking him, trying to soothe him. The others wandered away, but Octavia stayed and knelt next to Andes. “We have to help him, O, we can take him to Abby, maybe she can do something, “ she looked at Octavia, her eyes filled with tears, pleading for some sliver of hope.

“Andes, we’ll never get him back in time.”

Andes knew she was right. She sat down and carefully put Jaks head on her lap, whispering in his ear, rocking back and forth. Sampson and Midnight were there now, sniffing their brother, and both started whining, sensing his pain. They sat down next to him and put their heads on him. Andes knew he didn’t have long to live. His breath was erratic, labored. The tears flowed freely down Andes cheeks as Jaks took his last breath, his death howl coming with that last breath. And now Sampson and Midnight were howling, Andes joining in, moaning in pain. Part of their pack was gone forever. Octavia got chills hearing it. The sound was eerie and mournful. When they stopped, Octavia sat down next to Andes, who still held Jaks. She was just staring ahead, her eyes unfocused. “He was trying to make it back to Arkadia” she said in a monotone voice. Octavia didn’t know what to say to her, so she just stayed quiet. She knew they had to get moving, but didn’t want to rush her. “I can’t leave him here.” Andes said.

“I know. We can take him back and bury him in the graveyard at Arkadia.”

Andes nodded. She knew they had to leave. She gently put Jaks head on the ground, and pulled the arrow out of him. She wiped the tears from her face, “help me get him on my shoulders. “

“Andes, jesus, he must weigh over a hundred pounds.” Andes just looked at her, and she didn’t say anything more. She helped hoist him over Andes shoulders, front paws over her one shoulder, back paws over the other one. She held him and started walking. When they made it back to Arkadia, they went straight to the cemetery, dug a hole and buried him. Andes knelt by his grave for a few minutes. Octavia moved away to give her some privacy. Andes held her hand over the freshly dug dirt that covered him. _"Yu gonplei ste odon."_ ("Your fight is over.")

The next day the council from Arkadia left for Tondc, Kane, Abby, Octavia, Andes, Bellamy and Raven, who was instructed by Octavia to bring the flame. They were the last to arrive. Indra was in the command tent waiting. They were all seated in a large circle. Andes wasn’t sitting, she wasn’t part of a council, she was just there to give her report when Indra called on her to do so. She was showered now, her hair uncovered. She knew some of the people there were already staring at her, guessing at her identity.

“We’re meeting here today because we are all facing the greatest danger that we have ever faced.” Indra looked around at the attendees. This was the ruling council of Polis, along with the Arkadia council. The other clans were not part of this initial meeting. The thought was to come up with ideas before involving everyone, maybe formulate a plan to present to them. It was hard to get the clans to agree on anything, so they needed to present a strong case for any plan they chose, especially since the actual leaders of the clans weren’t even there, taken by Danko. Indra continued, “Danko has assembled a very large army. He has kidnapped clan leaders, he’s threatening them, saying he will kill them if we don’t surrender. They are marching now towards Polis.”

“How do you know all this? I thought our scouts were killed and butchered before they could report anything.” This was Daniel, a much respected tradesman from Polis, he was the defacto leader of the council, older and wise, his opinion on all matters greatly respected.

Indra looked over to Andes, and nodded for her to come forward. “This is Andes, she has been scouting for us for the last two months.”

“Andes you said?” Daniel asked. Andes nodded. “Where are you from?”

“Nowhere.” Andes gave her stock reply.

“I find that hard to believe,“ said Tomas, another member of the council. He wasn’t as highly regarded as Daniel, often argumentative and difficult to get along with.

“Andes tell them what you saw, “ Indra said. Andes relayed all the information. When she was finished, everyone sat in silence for a minute.

Kane finally spoke up, “We have to assemble an army, we need everyone on board.”

“Do we even have enough warriors?” Bellamy asked.

“I don’t think so, “ Daniel said.

“What about Skaikru and their bullets? Won’t that give us an advantage? There is no defense against them, isn’t it possible to take out hundreds with your bullets?” Tomas said.

Kane, shook his head, “our inventory is dangerously low. We don’t have enough to win a battle, let alone a war.”

Daniel spoke up, “We need someone to unite all the clans. The problem is that we’ve been without a true commander for almost a year now. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for war to be on our doorstep.”

“Who can lead then? There must be someone.” Kane said.

“All the _Natblida_ are gone. We’ve looked for months, there are no more left. They were all killed by Ontari. The clans will only recognize a nightblood commander, that’s the only way they will all come together. And without one, we’re doomed.” Tomas said

Indra and Andes exchanged a look, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Abby spoke up, “What?” She asked the both of them.

Indra looked at Andes, it wasn’t her right to give up Andes secret, it had to come from her. Andes suddenly remembered her dream, the dream with Lexa, _‘you will shine brightest of all’_ , and in her heart she knew, she knew this was her destiny. “I’m _Natblida_.”

The room fell silent, all eyes on her now. “She speaks the truth, “Indra said.

“How is that possible?” Daniel asked. “All were killed.”

“I wasn’t here, I haven’t been for years.” Andes answered.

“She was in training in Polis years ago. She was sent away before Lexa’s conclave.” Indra said.

“So, Andes can become commander?” Kane asked hopefully.

Tomas scoffed. “Surely you don’t think that this girl from nowhere can lead us. She’s not been properly trained. And she’s a wanted murderer.” That was news to the Arkadia council.

“The murder was justified, everyone knows that,” Indra said

“She killed a clan leader, “ Tomas argued.

“That was 8 years ago. And may I remind you of whom desert clan is aligned with right now. They are our enemy, so this shouldn’t be an issue.”

“What about the flame? We don’t have the flame, Clarke was the last one who had it.” Daniel said.

Raven spoke up now. “I have it.”

Tomas held up his hand, “Wait, I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Every commander that came before has had to go through a conclave. They had to prove they were worthy, they had to fight to the death for the right to be commander. To just hand this girl from nowhere the flame and the title of commander will not work. They will not follow her. Indra, you know I’m right, she has to prove herself.”

Indra sighed, “He’s right. They won’t accept her just because she’s _Natblida_.”

“But there are no other nightbloods for her to fight. How could she prove herself?” Bellamy asked.

Andes was just listening to all this, and everyone forgot she was even there. “I have an idea.” They all stopped talking at looked at her. “We’ll have a conclave.”

“Impossible, “ Tomas said.

Andes held up her hand, “Here me out. Send me into the ring with the best warriors we have, however many it takes. And make sure all the clans that are left send someone.“

“A fight to the death?” Tomas asked.

“Yes, but with a twist. They can kill me, and if they do, they will be viewed as great warriors, killing a _Natblida_. But, if I win, I spare them, and they give me a promise of fealty to our new alliance. “

“You’ll spare them?” Tomas asked.

“Yes, that way they have nothing to lose. And I think we’re going to need all the great warriors we can get, no sense me killing any of them.”

Now Abby spoke up, “Andes, no, you don’t have to do this.”

Andes was never more sure of anything in her life, “yes I do, it’s the only way.”

Daniel spoke up, “this might work, but we don’t have a lot of time. We need to present the idea to the clans that are still with us.”

Andes nodded, “Set up the conclave for tomorrow, the clans are all here. Let’s get it over with; we’ve got a war to fight.”

“What about the flame?” Indra asked.

“I’ll take it, as soon as I’m done winning.”

The plans were finalized. Daniel, Tomas and Kane would present the plan to the clan leaders now, telling them this was the only way. Without their leaders, who were prisoners now, they shouldn’t be hard to convince. Bellamy was sent back to Arkadia to get Murphy, in the hopes that they would need a flame keeper for the ascension ceremony.

Andes was left in the room now with Raven and Octavia. Raven was beside herself, “What are you doing? We just got you back, and now you’re gonna throw your life away?”

“Raven, I’ll be ok, trust me, I’ll be fine.”

“How can you say that?”

“I just know, ok?”

“I just worry about your motives. Are you just doing this for Clarke? Is this some sort of masochistic way to win her back?”

“No, I’m doing it for everyone. This is my destiny. I know it is. And I will survive it. And I can’t tell you how I know, I just do.”

Octavia put a hand on Andes shoulder, “you need to sleep, you haven’t slept in days.”

“I know, I’m going now, ok? I’ll see you guys later.”

“What do you think?” Raven asked Octavia after Andes left.

“I think she’s gonna win.” Raven wished she had Octavia’s confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We had a Siberian husky who died naturally, (meaning we didn't have to put her down,) and she gave a death howl when she died. So i didn't make that up, it happens.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the flame is here! And the last natblida kicks some ass.

The next day was gloomy with overcast skies. The clans had agreed, and they had decided on ten warriors, one more than the last conclave, Lexa’s. People were coming from all over to watch the spectacle, possibly the last _Natblida_ , fighting for the right to lead, take the mantle of commander. Hundreds were pouring into the makeshift stadium.

Andes was getting ready. Raven and Octavia were fussing over her. “You need to look badass, “ Raven said. “ Wait here.”

Octavia was putting war paint on Andes face, “You ok?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Are you nervous?”

Andes thought about it, and she wasn’t, she had a preternatural calmness about her right now. “No, I’m not. I guess I should be, but I’m not.”

When Octavia was done she stepped back and looked at her handiwork. “You look great,” she said with a smile.  


Raven was back with a razor. “Ok, you need to let me do this.”

“Where’d you get that?” O asked.

“I have ways.”

“What are you going to do?” Andes asked.

Raven turned on the razor, “I’m giving you a badass hair cut, trust me.”

She started shaving Andes head, cutting it close up the back, close up the sides. She left the top longer, just taking a little off of it.  
Andes kept watching her hair drop in front of her, now she was nervous. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” She said to Raven.

When she finished, she turned off the razor and looked at Andes, “Now that is badass sexy.”

Octavia nodded her approval. “That is pretty badass sexy.” She reached out and rubbed Andes head, “Cool.”

Andes reached up and touched her hair, what was left of it.” “Shit, you really cut it.”

“Dude, you need to look tougher, harder. You gotta fight for your life out there, can’t be doing that with hair in your face, looking all gorgeous and pretty.”

Andes looked at O, who shook her head, “I think she’s still gorgeous.”

“Yeah well, I’m not a miracle worker,” Raven said.

Indra appeared now, “it’s time. “

Andes stood up and put her swords on her back, her daggers at her thighs, she opted for no armor. She knew she moved better without it. All three of them followed Indra down to the entrance of the ring.

Abby was waiting there, unshed tears in her eyes.“Andes, I’ll be waiting right here for you, ok?”

“Yes Abby, I’ll meet you right back here.” She reached up and briefly touched Abby’s face, “will you do me a favor, hold onto this for safe keeping,” and she took a piece of folded up paper from underneath her shirt and handed it to her. Abby nodded and took the paper.

Octavia was next, hugging her, “you’re gonna win, you know it and I know it.” Andes winked and nodded her agreement.

Next up was Raven, who pulled her close, “ I’m gonna kiss you right now, kiss you right on the mouth,” and she did, and Andes kissed her right back, and it wasn’t just a friendly kiss. Raven broke it off, “Dammit, that was good, I knew you’d be a good kisser, I love you, do this, good luck, kick some ass, and I’ll see you when it’s over.” Andes stepped away from them all, gave them a thumbs up, turned and entered the ring.

Raven and Octavia made their way into the stands to watch and support their friend. Abby couldn’t bear to watch, she stayed behind, praying to every god she could think of that Andes would survive this.

Raven and O found a seat near Kane. They watched as Andes slowly entered the ring, the crowd restless. Daniel stood up to address everyone in Trig. “We come here today, to this conclave, to possibly crown a new commander. This _Natblida_ before us, called Andes, the _gada kom no weron_ , (the girl from nowhere), the last known _Natblida_ , will fight to the death for the honor of becoming our supreme leader. She will fight ten of our finest warriors. If she survives, she will take the flame, and will lead us in battle against the Azgeda army.” The crowd started cheering now, “Let this conclave begin.”

And with that, the first warrior entered the ring. Raven and O were cheering now for their friend. They watched the two below begin circling each other, both with swords drawn. The warrior had nothing to lose, so he attacked first, trying to catch her off guard. Andes moved aside easily. This would be a little more difficult than usual, since she didn’t want to kill him. She had to disarm him, maybe weaken him with small cuts. On his next attack, she parried easily, and took the flat part of her sword and banged in across his knee, making him grunt in pain. Now he was limping, but not bleeding. He reached for his axe, and threw it at Andes, but she anticipated it, and ducked away from it. He came at her again and she slid to the side and swiped a cut across his back, not too deep, but deep enough to hurt and bleed. He reached back and looked at the blood she had drawn. He was getting a little angry now, because he hadn’t even touched her yet. He decided to try and land a series of quick blows on her, so he swung wildly, kept coming at her, driving her backwards. But he still couldn’t breach her defenses. They kept battling, both looking for an opening. Andes kept cutting him, small ones, but he kept coming. Finally, she could tell he was tiring now, and she spotted a weakness in the way he held his sword, two of his fingers relaxed on the handle, if she could land a strong blow, she may be able to knock it out of his hand. She reached behind her and now had both of her swords in her hands. She saw him hesitate now, wondering what she was up to. She charged and hit the ground, rolling forward. He was caught totally off guard, as she popped up right in front of him, landing both swords on top of his at the same time, her momentum giving her extra strength, the blow causing him to drop his sword, which she kicked away and now held the point of her sword at his throat. “Swear fealty to me, and I will spare your life. Join me and stand by my side as we fight a common enemy.” He looked deep into her eyes, and decided that he would rather live this day, so he bent the knee and swore his life to her. The crowd started cheering now, for this _Natblida_ who just beat a warrior much bigger than herself.

And so it went on and on, and when the last of the ten knelt before her, Andes was relieved, her stamina was just about gone. She held her sword high, acknowledging the cheering of the crowd, chanting her name now, they accepted her, she proved herself to them and they were ready to follow her anywhere.

Raven, Octavia and Abby were waiting for her when she left the ring, and she practically collapsed in their arms. She was grimy from sweat, dirt and blood, none of it hers though. She knew there was no time for rest, now the flame awaited her. Daniel and Kane brought Murphy with them, and they all went down to the sacred chamber. Raven had the box that held the flame. Murphy instructed Andes to lie on her stomach on the table, her head hanging off the front of it. Abby was right there with her, holding onto her hand, in case anything went wrong. Raven handed the box to Murphy, and he gently took the flame out, the tiny chip. He moved it into position at the base of Andes neck, but before he could utter the key phrase, the chip opened up, just like before, the probes came out, and the chip moved on its own to the base of Andes skull, burrowing into her skin. She screamed from the pain, as the probes lashed around her spinal column. Andes thought she was dying the pain was so bad. Abby started freaking out, “Andes, Andes, talk to me, are you ok? “ Andes eyes were wide open now, her mouth open, no sound coming out, and then suddenly she just collapsed, eyes shut, her head hanging limply off the table, her black blood dripping from her nose. Abby checked her vitals, her heart was still beating, thank god, but she was breathing heavily. They all looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. Slowly Andes eyes opened, and Abby got on her knees so she could look at her, look into her eyes. “Andes, can you hear me?” Andes gave her a slight nod, her eyes now swimming back into focus. She was still breathing heavy. “Andes, can you speak.”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“What are you feeling?” Abby asked holding Andes face now, dabbing at the blood coming from her nose.

“I feel everything.” Everyone in the room strained to hear her. “I feel love, I feel so much love.” Abby looked up to Marcus and Daniel. None of them understanding what this meant. “She loved her Abby, she loved her so much. I have to tell her how much she loved her.” Raven and Octavia just looked at each other.

“Lexa, are you talking about Lexa, Andes? “ Abby asked.

“Yes, she loved her, she loved Clarke.”

There was still a lot of confusion in the room, until Raven spoke up, “the chip was part of all the commanders consciousness, Lexa’s consciousness is probably the strongest, since she was most recent commander. It’s a computer, so it recalls the most recent activity. Clarke was with her when she died. Lexa’s love for Clarke was the last thing that was recorded.”

“I have to get up, help me up.” Octavia and Abby helped Andes sit up.

“Is the pain still there?” Abby asked.

“No, went away thank god.” She was rubbing her temples now.

Daniel and Kane came over to look at her, Daniel asking, “are you ready to take command _Heda_?” _Heda_ , that word hadn’t been spoken in almost a year. “What would you like us to do?”

Andes brain felt like it was “turned on” if that was possible. Things seemed so clear, colors seemed brighter, and thoughts were flying through it, ideas. “Daniel, you and Indra go to the remaining clans, raise the army, we leave now to meet Azgeda, they’re getting closer every day.” Octavia and Bellamy followed Indra out.

“Andes, I don’t know if you’re in any kind of shape to go to war right now.” Abby said.

“Abby, Clarke’s in danger, they’re all in danger, they’ve killed one leader already.”

“How do you know that?” Abby asked.

“I don’t know I just do.” The flame was in her now. She could feel its power. She jumped down off the table, put her swords back on.

Raven came over to her again, “dude, I’m getting tired of saying goodbye.”

“I’ll be back, keep my seat warm at the computer, ok?” Raven nodded her head.

Abby looked at her, “I’m coming along. You’re gonna need a med tent for the casualties, and here,” she handed her the paper that Andes had given her before the fights, Clarke’s picture.

Andes tucked it back into her shirt, next to her heart. “We will need your help, Abby, thank you.”

They turned to leave the room, and Raven called out, “Hey, goddess, bring our girl back, ok?”

“I plan on it.” And as Andes left the room, she stopped short, standing along the corridor were the ten warriors that she just fought in the ring.

“ _Heda_ , it would be our honor to be your personal guard.”

Andes looked at all of them, felt their loyalty, saw it in their eyes. “It would be my honor to have you, _mochof_.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, we're near the end now, one more chapter after this. my last nightblood warrior kicks some more ass.

The battle.

Andes lost count of the bodies dropping around her. She kept fighting, hoping the end was soon. They’d been fighting off and on for two days now. Octavia was fighting by her side, as were her ten. Suddenly she felt a glancing blow to the side of her head. Liquid rushed into her eye, blinding her. She wiped and looked down, black blood, her blood. She turned to look, and immediately knew what happened. She was hit by a recoil from O’s sword. Octavia was on the ground and she was hurt, bleeding from her side. The warrior she was fighting had his sword raised high, readying for the final kill. Andes quickly parried his downward thrust away from a wounded Octavia. She drove up with her other sword and sliced open his belly. He dropped heavily in front of her. She bent down to O. “Octavia, look at me, look at me, hang in there,” Octavia’s eyes were glassy and Andes knew she needed help now. She put Octavia over her shoulder and took off, heading back away from the battle, towards the medical tent. When she got there, she was yelling, “Abby, Abby! Get me Abby!” Jackson appeared and helped Andes put Octavia on a table. Andes grabbed a cloth that was sitting there and pushed it into the wound, trying to stop the blood. Her own blood was still pouring down her face.  
Abby came running up and assessed the situation, barking out orders, “Jackson, get me sutures, Andes, put this on your head,” as she tossed a towel in her direction.  
Andes tied the towel around her head so she could see. Jackson came back and Abby began closing Octavia’s wound. Andes held her hand, willing her to be ok, trying to give her strength. She bent towards Octavia’s head, “hang in there O, hang in there, I’m right here.”  
After a few minutes, Abby had the wound sutured up and she told Jackson to give her a shot of antibiotics. She turned her attention towards Andes, taking the towel off her head. “You need stictches too, this is really deep.”  
“Is she gonna be ok?”  
“Yes, she should be. It didn’t hit any vital organs.”  
Andes breathed a sigh of relief. But there was no time to relax, “I have to get back out there Abby, I have to get back, so do it quick, I don’t have time.”  
“I’ll close it up as best as I can, but after this is all over, you’ll have to come back, because you need stitches on the inside of this cut also.” She washed the wound and started to stitch. “How’s it going out there? “ She was trying to get Andes to focus on something, her eyes were too wild. “Andes, how’s it going out there? “  
“Not good, a lot of people are dying. On both sides. This isn’t right, there’s so much death. I have to stop it, I have to figure a way to stop this.”  
“Andes, you’re doing all you can.”  
“No, I have to do something.” She hesitated for a moment, and then her eyes snapped back into focus. “I have to cut off the head of the snake.”  
“What does that mean?” Abby asked as she finished up. Andes didn’t reply, she got up and walked out of the tent. “Andes, you have to come back later and get re-stitched, “ she called after her. But she was gone. Abby turned her attention back to Octavia, who appeared to be stabilizing. And now more injured were coming in, she had to hope Andes would be ok.  
Andes rushed from the tent looking for her horse, which she found standing with a group of others. She clicked her tongue and the horse came to her. She jumped up on its back and rode back into the thick of the battle.

Clarke and the other captives were tied up and blindfolded, kept well behind the battle lines. They were in a heavily guarded tent. Clarke heard the commotion outside, the battle cries, and she was going crazy wondering what was going on. It had been days since they were captured. Danko had already executed one of the clan leaders, leaving five of them alive for now. Suddenly she heard voices, and shouting close by. Her heart started pounding because she thought she heard Bellamy. She felt a rush of air as the tent door opened and he was by her side, removing her blindfold and her gag, untying her hands. “Clarke!” he pulled her into a quick hug,  
“Oh my god Bellamy, what’s happening?”  
“Let’s get you out of here, we can talk later.” Echo was with him, and they worked quickly to free everyone. They left the tent, stepping over the guards who now lay on the ground dead. They ran for the cover of the trees, where there were horses waiting for them. They had to share mounts, so Clarke was behind Bellamy. They took off away from the battle, having to make a wide berth around the armies, not wanting to be seen or caught. It was hard to talk when they were riding so hard, so Clarke had to bite her tongue, her mind filled with questions. She looked over at the battle through the trees, some of it being visible. It looked like utter chaos. She couldn’t tell who was who out there. Finally they made it to behind their own army. Bellamy stopped on a hill overlooking the battlefield. Echo lead the others back to the med tent, while Bellamy and Clarke stayed behind, watching.  
“Bellamy, what is happening, please tell me.”  
“It’s all out war Clarke, the ice nation and the six clans that were with him, against the remaining clans. “  
“Who’s leading our clans?”  
“The commander.”  
“The commander? Who is the commander?”  
Bellamy took a second before he spoke, “Andes.”  
Clarke just looked at him, “Andes? Andes is the commander?” she asked incredulously.  
Bellamy nodded. “She took the flame.” And then they both saw it at the same time, Andes riding to the front of the lines on her gray horse. They heard her shouting something and Bellamy moved closer so they could hear what was going on. And Clarke laid eyes on Andes for the first time in four months. Her heart leapt at the sight of her, her hair short, a presence about her, so strong and invincible looking.

Andes found her ten and called them to her, and rode to the front of the battle lines, her ten providing a protective shield. She made it to the front, and called out for Danko. “Danko, coward, killer, murderer, show yourself.” She repeated this over and over. Soon, the message made its way back to him, because he appeared on a large black steed, wanting to see who dared to call him a coward. And suddenly, the battle slowed as all the warriors eyes were drawn to the two on horseback, circling near each other. Andes horse was prancing as she moved back in forth in front of Danko, they were about twenty yards apart from each other. She was covered in blood, showing no fear, looking every bit the strong warrior she was. “Fight me now, and let’s end this.”  
Danko finally got a good look at this new commander he had heard about and recognized her. “Well, now, if it isn’t my little plaything. How have you been my little sparrow?” Danko circled closer. Now the armies were all watching, a temporary halt to the fighting. “And why should I fight you?” he asked.  
“Because if you don’t, you’ll appear weak. Are you afraid of a girl?”  
“I’m afraid of no one.” He took in his surroundings now, seeing that all eyes were on them. He wanted the flame. And the only way to get it, evidently, was to cut it out of this girl’s neck. “Do you really think you stand a chance with me, little sparrow?” The silence stretched across the battlefield now. “Your sister was lovely. “ he said as he kept his horse moving, back in forth in front of Andes. “It’s a shame I had to kill her. But I had my fun before she died.” Andes stayed in control, Costia was gone, and these were just words meant to goad her into a miscalculation.  
Danko continued, “I will fight you, but I won’t kill you on this battle field, I will take you to my tent, and finish what I started all those years ago.” Andes mind was in lock down, nothing he said could bother her. She was full of steely resolve, she was hyper focused, her mind readying her for the battle to come.  
“Yes, you will fight me.” Andes said slowly, now she was circling closer to him. Her eyes locked into his, “And I will cut you ten times, and the tenth cut will be your head coming off your body.” Danko had a brief sense of foreboding, but it was gone as quickly as it came.  
Andes slid from her horse, and took off her armor. She stood with her legs apart, arms spread out from her body, holding her swords, her eyes closed, her head back facing the sky. She could feel the power of the flame, she could see how this fight was going to play out, her mind that far ahead of the action. Yes, the flame was working in her.  
Danko watched and smiled, he started to feel overly confident now, that earlier feeling was gone. Hand to hand combat on the ground played to his strengths, after all. He dismounted and charged at Andes, hoping to catch her off guard. She moved easily out of his way, and with a quick flip of her wrist he was bleeding from the calf. “One.” Andes said. Danko barely felt the cut, he laughed. “I hope you can do better than that sparrow.” He took a more measured approach now, looking for an opening. Thinking he had one, he lunged again, only to be met by one of Andes swords, held in the air, while the other snaked out to cut his arm. “Two” Danko was still confident. These wounds were nothing, hardly scratches, hardly any blood. “You keep counting sparrow, you’ll never make it to ten.” He came at her again, swinging violently, and Andes danced away and parried his sword on the downward swing, trapping it briefly on the ground, feeling his momentum stop, but also feeling his weight forward. She suddenly let his sword go, and he stumbled forward slightly, and Andes cut him twice on the back of his legs. “Three, four.” She could feel a little impatience from him now. “I enjoyed your sister’s screams as I tortured her.” He said, trying to break Andes concentration, trying to get her to hesitate, to lose her focus, to distract her. He reached down to the dagger at his thigh and quickly threw it, missing Andes head by an inch, because she knew it was coming. He charged again and Andes rolled forward, catching him by surprise, rolling past him, but not before her sword slashed at his side, this one deeper than the others. “Five”. Danko looked down at this new wound, this bleeding heavier. He was enraged. He screamed and came at her again, again she was ready, cuts six and seven across his chest, deep lacerations. Eight sliced his hamstring, crippling him, falling to his knees. Andes slowly came forward, stood in front of him. She drove one sword into the ground, only needing the other one now. Danko looked up at her, fear in his eyes. She thought of her sister now, thought of the pain this man caused her, the pain and suffering she must have endured. _“Jus Drein Jus Daun.”_ Andes took her sword and ran it through his stomach. “Nine.” She stared at him now, knowing his death was near, knowing she had avenged her sister finally. She put her foot on his shoulder and pulled her sword back from his body. He clutched at this gaping wound, looking down at it in disbelief, still upright on his knees. All the clans watched now as she circled behind him, this girl from nowhere, taking down one of the greatest warriors in the lands. She had her back to him now, her eyes closed. Andes gathered her strength, and Costia’s face swam in front of her, and then Clarkes, _“Yu gonplei ste odon."_ and in one fluid motion she turned and jumped, a warrior’s cry erupting from her chest, and her sword came down across his neck, separating his head from his body. “Ten, “ she whispered, meant for Costia, but heard by all. The entire battlefield was quiet, no one was moving, and no one knew what to do next.  
She re-sheathed her swords, and slowly walked back to her horse. She mounted and grabbed his mane, he reared slightly, once, twice, then she had him moving towards the armies. She now drew one sword and held it in the air. Cantering down the enemy lines, not saying a word, but demanding fealty, she watched as they took a knee, it happened in waves, as she kept moving down the line, the warriors all dropping to one knee, pledging their allegiance to the girl from nowhere, to this new _Heda_ , the new commander. When she reached the end, she turned and faced her armies, and rode in front of them, watching them kneel, hearing their shouts, pledging their loyalty. She finally made her way to the freed prisoners, the clan leaders, Clarke, safe. She was so relieved. She addressed each leader, asking if they were ok, talking with them. Clarke was last, “Clarke, “ she nodded at her, looking her over, noticing how thin she looked.  
“Commander, “  
“Are you well?”  
“Yes.”  
“Good,” and with that she turned her horse around and rode off to speak to Indra and the other generals.  
To say that Clarke was disappointed was a huge understatement. She didn’t know what she expected, but she knew it was more than that. Clarke was determined to seek her out later. Now, though, she headed to the med tent to see her mom. When she entered the first person she saw was Octavia. She rushed over to her, Bellamy was by her side, holding her hand. “O, oh my god, O, are you ok?”  
“I’m fine, I’m gonna be ok Clarke.”  
Bellamy smiled down at her, “O, I’m going to check on Echo, ok? Clarke will stay with you for a little while, right Clarke, “ he looked up and pleaded with her to stay.  
“Of course I’m staying, I’m not going anywhere.” They sat in silence for a little while, Clarke just holding her hand.  
“She saved me.”  
“Who?”  
“Andes, she saved me then carried me back here. I owe her my life.”  
“Join the club,” Clarke said with a little smile on her face. She squeezed Octavia’s hand, who smiled back.  
“Jaks died.”  
Clarke’s face fell and she closed her eyes, “oh no.” Tears started slipping out of Clarke’s eyes. “They shot at him to chase him off when he tried to protect me. I prayed he was going to be alright. How did you find him?”  
“He was on his way back to Arkadia, at least that’s what Andes thought.”  
“She knows then?”  
“Yeah, she was there when we found him. She was on her way to warn us about the Azdega army. Just by luck we ran into her, then we all found Jaks by the river. He was still alive, barely. Andes was a mess. It was really, really sad. When he died, the other two started howling. It was eerie, like something out of horror movie, the sound. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. Andes carried him back to Arkadia, and we buried him in the cemetery. “  
Clarke was heartbroken. Sweet Jaks, dying, trying to protect her. Dead because of her. Would Andes ever forgive her for this? Was this the reason for the cold reception? Or was it because Clarke drove her away. Broke her heart and sent her away. She could see Andes moving about, talking to people, heading towards the med tent. She entered and her eyes met Clarke’s right away, but she looked away quickly. Clarke watched as she visited the wounded, holding their hand, talking to them, making them feel special, because to her they were. Every life mattered. Clarke wondered how Andes was handling this much loss of life. Would she forever be scarred like Clarke was, haunted by the deaths. Or would she be more like Lexa, accepting death as inevitable, a product of war, the flame changing her. Andes finally made her way over to Octavia, grasping her hand with affection, smiling down at her, “O, glad to see you’re still with us, how are you doing?”  
“I’m doing well, commander, thanks to you, oh, and sorry about that little cut on your face.”  
Clarke was now just noticing the deep gash next to Andes eye, barely stitched together. It looked hastily stitched, and Clarke could tell that it needed more to minimize the scarring. “What happened?” She wanted to reach out and touch the wound, make sure it was ok, but she didn’t want to overstep her bounds.  
“My sword was pushed back into her face.”  
“It’s nothing, just a scratch,” Andes said as she winked at O.  
Clarke looked Andes over, her war paint was still on and she looked so beautiful Clarke’s heart hurt. Her eyes wandered lower, looking for any other injuries. She was covered in blood, both red and black. She could see some wounds seeping, here and there, around her arms and legs, but for the most part, she seemed fine. She was limping slightly, favoring her right leg. But she didn’t seem to be in much pain now. She did look exhausted, like she was about to topple over.  
“I have to go, but I’ll see you both later, ok?” And with that she left and Clarke saw her go towards her tent, the commander’s tent. Clarke still couldn’t wrap her head around that. Andes was commander, she had the flame. She had so many questions.  
“Earth to Clarke, earth to Clarke, “ O was trying to bring her back, snap her out of whatever was going on in her head.  
“Sorry. I’m just so confused. How did this all happen, how did she take the flame?”  
“She volunteered. We had all decided that the only way to unite the remaining clans was to have a nightblood commander. Andes was there at the meeting, and she spoke up, said she was nightblood. They were all pretty shocked at that. So, she said she would take it, but they knew they just couldn’t give her the flame, she had to earn it, had to earn the respect, it would have never worked otherwise. So they set up a conclave of sorts, sent the ten best warriors they had into the ring with her. She had to fight to the death, she had to beat them all. And she did. It was amazing, she was amazing.”  
“Wow. “ She wished she could have seen it, she wished she could have been there for her. Clarke looked back at the commander’s tent. A few people were moving in and out of it. She saw the healer walk in, and hoped she would stitch her up properly, she wished Andes had asked her to take care of it. There was a lot wishing going on in her head. Most of all, she wished she had handled everything better all those months before.  
“Clarke, Clarke, “ Clarke looked down at Octavia, “go talk to her, I’ll be fine.” Clarke hesitated, “Just go, go, geez, I’ll be here, I’m not going anywhere.”  
Clarke bent her head and kissed O’s cheek, “Be back, ok?” O nodded. Clarke walked to the tent, a little unsure of herself. The two guards saw her and stood aside to let her enter. Clarke saw the healer stitching Andes head wound. There were two other younger women preparing her bath. Indra was there also, and she was talking to Andes. Andes saw Clarke come in.  
“Clarke, come in,”  
“I just wanted to stop by and check on you. Make sure you were getting stitched up.”  
“Yes, Marrta is doing a great job, aren’t you Marrta,” Marrta nodded. Clarke moved closer to inspect, and she agreed, it looked pretty good. She finished up and put some salve on the wound. She left the salve and spoke softly to Andes in Trig, Andes nodded and Marrta left. Indra was preparing to take her leave also, but before she left she place her hand on Andes shoulder, “I’m proud of you, you did good out there.” Andes placed her hand over Indra’s, “thank you Indra, I couldn’t have done this without your support, I won’t forget that.” Indra nodded to both of them and left the tent. Andes sighed and looked up at Clarke. “Hey.”  
“Hey.” Clarke reached out and touched the wound, and Andes had to fight the urge not to close her eyes and lean into Clarke’s hand. “You were amazing out there today.”  
“Thank you.” The two young women came over to Andes now and helped her up, helped her to the tub, and began undressing her. Clarke felt a pang of jealousy. They were pretty and young, and they were touching Andes naked body. When she was undressed, she climbed into the tub, moaning as she sank into the warm water. She rested her head against the back of the tub and closed her eyes.  
Clarke saw a piece of paper on the ground, near where Andes undressed. She reached over and picked it up, opened it, it was the picture she drew for her. She kept it with her all this time. Clarke smiled and put it on the table, a warmth filling her up right now, her chest feeling full of emotion. She brought a stool over to the tub, her head so full of questions. “So, you took the flame.”  
Andes kept her eyes shut, “Yes.”  
“Why?”  
“There was no other way.”  
“We would have found a way.”  
“We? You were already captured, you could have been killed, you all could have been killed.”  
“You didn’t want this, you said you never wanted this.”  
Andes looked at Clarke now, and Clarke saw the exhaustion again, utter exhaustion. Now she felt bad she was badgering her with questions.  
“Clarke, please. I don’t have the energy for this conversation right now. I just want to crawl into that bed over there and sleep for days.”  
With that, the two girls returned with wash cloths, and Andes let them wash her. They washed her all over, and she let them, her eyes closed, barely moving. Clarke wanted to throw them out of the tent, wanted to be the one washing off the stain of battle, soothing her. She shook her head, trying to clear away these feelings. When they were done washing they helped her out of the tub and began walking her to the bed. She was covered in bruises. She slid under the covers and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Clarke didn’t know what to do now. She pulled a chair over to Andes bed and just watched her sleep. Her face relaxed now, long lashes touching her cheeks. Her short hair made her seem a little harder, but sexier if that was possible. Clarke reached out and moved a lock of hair away from her eyes. She pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her head back.  
She woke up much later, sometime in the middle of the night. Andes still hadn’t moved. Clarke’s body was cramped from sleeping in the chair. She looked longingly at the other side of the bed. She looked back at Andes and decided she was not moving, so Clarke walked around to the other side and got in. She pulled the covers up and fell asleep immediately.  
She woke the next morning to a pair of gray eyes staring at her from the other side of the bed. She had hoped she could have slipped out before Andes was awake, but here she was, in her bed, and she wasn’t sure she was welcomed.  
“Clarke, what are you doing here?” Andes was on her side, with her head in her hand.  
“I’m sorry, I was just so tired. The bed looked so inviting, you were out like a rock, I guess I didn’t think it would be a problem. Sorry.”  
“It’s ok, “ Andes said with a small smile. Not the smile Clarke was used to, no sparkle in the eye, just a tired smile.  
“I’m sorry I bothered you with all those questions last night, too. “ No answer from her. Clarke was looking for any sign, any sign at all of the Andes she knew all those months ago. Hoping she was still there somewhere, and just needed time. She decided to go light, “You cut your hair.”  
Andes reached up and rubbed her head, “Yeah, we can thank Raven for that.”  
“Why did she cut it?”  
“She thought I needed a different look for the conclave. She calls it my sexy bad ass cut.”  
Clarke smiled, trying to goad Andes into one, “She’s right, it is sexy badass.” And with that Clarke tossed the first pebble into their sea of attraction, hoping for a ripple, hoping to reach Andes. She noticed a softening around her eyes, just a little, and little warmer gray in them too. She was in there Clarke decided, she just needed to be coaxed out. She noticed that the two girls from last night reappeared now, getting Andes clothes ready. Clarke looked up at them and looked back at Andes, “they yours?”  
A little wider smile, not much, but a little wider. She nodded.  
“You choose them?” Clarke asked with a small smile.  
“Yes,” she said wryly, the connection between them trying to re-establish. “They help me get dressed.”  
“Oh, need help with that now?”  
Andes shrugged, smiling more, almost an old Andes smile, “It’s one of the perks, you know?”  
“I didn’t, but I guess I do now.”  
And they just laid there for a few seconds, on opposite sides of the bed, both on their sides, with their heads in the hands, staring at each other. Andes looked down at her hand that was on the bed, willing it to be still, because it just wanted to travel the few inches to touch Clarke’s.  
“ _Heda_! May I enter?”  
Andes needed to escape this, needed to put space between her and Clarke, she had to stop this now, because she felt herself weakening, and she couldn’t have that.  
“ _Sha_!” With that, Indra came in, saw Clarke, “Sorry _Heda_ , I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”  
“It’s ok Indra. Clarke just fell asleep here last night.”  
“ _Heda_ , we’re breaking camp, and we’ll head back to Polis when you’re ready. Yours is the last tent.”  
“Sorry, I guess I slept in. I’m getting up now, and I’ll be ready shortly.”  
Indra nodded slightly, “Yes _Heda_ ,” and turned and left.  
Andes rolled out of bed, stood up and stretched, naked to the world, naked to Clarke. And Clarke felt it, felt the electricity, the heat starting up, the want, the lust, all of it still there. The women started helping Andes get dressed, and Clarke felt it was best to leave, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome, and she needed the fresh air to cool off.  
“I’ll see you out there, I guess?”  
“Yes, I’ll be out shortly.”  
Clarke left the tent, still not sure where she stood with Andes. There was something different between them, and Clarke had no idea what it was, but Andes was playing it cool, or maybe that’s how she felt, cool towards Clarke, maybe she exorcised Clarke from her system. Isn’t that what Clarke wanted after all? She didn’t want to love anyone anymore and she didn’t want to be loved. Probably better if Andes was able to rid herself of her feelings for Clarke.  
When Andes finally emerged from her tent, she went to her horse and jumped up on its back. She looked around and met those blue eyes, and for an instant she was carried back in time, to their first day, to Clarke’s rescue, holding the sky girl in front of her on their wild ride through the forest, running for their lives. Andes remembered not wanting the ride to end, thinking Clarke fit perfectly in front of her, remembered the smell of her hair. These thoughts would get her nowhere, so she kicked the horse forward and addressed her generals, the clan leaders, and the ambassadors. “I would like to invite you all to Polis in a week’s time, we will celebrate a new alliance with a festival. We’ll celebrate a new beginning. We’ll put this war behind us, and move forward.” With that she rode off to the front of the column , nodding to the men and women in her army, reaching down to shake their hands, put a hand on their shoulder, she made people feel like a part of something bigger. And for the first time Clarke was struck by how right this seemed. How right Andes seemed leading. She seemed a far cry from the loner she met so many months ago. She was proud of her, her heart full of happiness to see this transformation. Her heart just full of happiness, and she knew right then, that she wanted Andes back somehow. Raven and her mom were right, Andes made her happy, and it was ok to be happy again. Lexa would always be a part of her, she would always have a special place in her heart for her, but there was room for another. Clarke was tired of fighting it. Just let her in. Let her in and see what happens.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the last chapter, my nightblood gets her girl. love smut dead ahead.

The week went by quickly, and soon it was time to go to Polis for the festival. Most of the Arkers came, Bellamy, Octavia, Abby, Kane, Raven Wick ,Echo, Jasper, Monty, Miller, Harper, they all came to celebrate this new peace, hoping it would be a lasting peace. And of course Clarke. Raven helped her pick out an outfit to wear. She wore a mix of grounder and Arkadia clothes. She wore her sword on her back as a ceremonial piece. She knew she looked good. She hoped she could catch Andes eye. She left her hair down because she knew Andes loved it down. She had black war paint around her eyes. Not too much, just enough to be striking. “You looking good girl, she’s not gonna know what hit her, “ Raven said with a wicked grin.  
When they got to the celebration, Clarke took her place with the other clan leaders. Each had a special gift for the new commander. Clarke had a picture that she had painted, Andes on her gray horse, her short hair, her sword raised in battle, her dogs, all three, surrounding her on the battlefield, the sun rising, depicting a new dawn. She thought it was one of her best works and she hoped Andes liked it.  
Each clan leader went to the new _Heda_ and presented their gift. She was gracious to each of them, thanking them, talking about how important each was to the success of this new peace. She noticed Clarke as soon as she took her place in line. Her heart stopped. It felt like it stopped for a full minute. She was gorgeous, and Andes heart melted. She had to snap her attention back to the Lake clan leader, who was talking about Andes exploits on the battlefield. Andes thanked her for the kind words. When it was Clarke’s turn, she had to take a deep breath and control herself. Clarke approached, knelt before Andes, pledged the loyalty of the Skaikru, rose up and presented her gift. They locked eyes for a bit, and Andes had to look away, to accept Clarke’s gift. She knew it was a picture and she was sure it was a work of Clarkes. She unrolled it and her breath caught in her throat and her eyes filled up a bit. It was the most beautiful picture Andes had ever seen. She held it up to show it to everyone, all admiring the work. “Thank you Clarke kom Skaikru, this is truly beautiful.” Andes didn’t know what else to say, she hoped Clarke could see how much she loved it in her eyes as she looked back at her.  
Clarke moved off and found Raven. “I think she liked it, don’t you?”  
“Ya, she almost cried for god’s sake.” Raven put her arm around Clarke. “Now let’s go party.” And with that they joined in with all the people who were in Polis, crowds and crowds of revelers, celebrating the end of the war, and the beginning of new age. Clarke looked for Andes constantly. And every time she saw her, she couldn’t seem to catch her eye. She never sought Clarke out either, which was frustrating. She was avoiding her, she swore it. The night wore on, it was getting late, but everyone was still going strong, drinking, dancing, laughing. It was the happiest Clarke had ever seen anybody. She knew where Andes was at all times, she was extremely aware of her. She knew when she left to go back to her quarters. She watched her slip away, quietly, without fanfare. Clarke wanted to follow her, but just then Jasper and Monty pulled her out to dance with her. They were so happy that she had to oblige them. Clarke finally was able to pull herself away an hour later. She slipped into the tower to make her way up to Andes rooms. Andes made her quarters on one of the lower levels, not the top where Lexa had been. Clarke wandered around until she found them, the three guards outside the door giving it away. She approached and wondered if they would let her in. She had an awful thought for a brief moment, what if Andes had someone else in there with her? She almost turned around, but thought it was best to know that now, face it. Surprisingly, the guards stepped aside to let her into the room. She entered and looked around. Sampson and Midnight were there and came to greet her, wagging their tails. She bent down to hug them, apologizing for the loss of their brother, knowing they didn’t understand her, but saying it anyway. She stood up and looked for Andes. There seemed to be three rooms total, it was a large space. At first she didn’t see her, but as she moved further into the room, she saw her. She was sitting with her head on a table, sound asleep. Clarke wandered over and noticed that she fell asleep with a pencil in her hand. She looked at what she was drawing, and it seemed to be a layout of some buildings. She smiled at that, it looked like Andes was designing a village. Well, at least she was alone. At that moment, Andes seemed to sense her presence, as her eyes blinked awake, adjusting to the light in the room.  
She picked up her head, “Clarke?” She thought she was dreaming at first, “Clarke? What are you doing here?” she asked sleepily.  
Clarke leaned against the table, right next to Andes, crossed her arms and looked down at her, “you’ve been avoiding me all night, so I thought I would come and find out why?”  
“I haven’t been avoiding you, “  
“Yes, you have.”  
Andes rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She couldn’t bear to look at her, Clarke was so perfect right now.  
“What are you working on?” Clarke asked.  
“Oh, I want to build a school, so I was just sketching it out, getting some ideas down.”  
“A school? Wow, it looks good.”  
“Well, it’s not as good as you could do, but it’ll work for now.”  
Clarke moved around to the other side of the table and sat down across from her. “How have you been?“  
“Ok I guess. Lots of changes. How about you?”  
“Ok too. “ Clarke was now a little unsure of herself. “I’ve missed you.”  
Andes smiled that sad smile again, “I’ve missed you too.”  
“It’s been months since we’ve seen each other.”  
“Feels like forever.” Andes regretted that as soon as it was out of her mouth. Weak.  
“I’m so sorry about Jaks. I’m so sorry.” Clarke’s eyes filled with tears now.  
“It wasn’t your fault. He was protecting you, I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.”  
“I know, but you asked me to take care of him, and I didn’t.”  
“It’s ok Clarke, it’s ok.”  
Clarke wiped at her tears, gathered herself. Andes had to close her eyes, she couldn’t see Clarke this upset and not go to her to comfort her. Clarke assumed Andes was tired when she saw her close her eyes. “I’m sorry, I guess you want to go to sleep now, you look beat.”  
“It’s ok, you can stay for a bit.” _Ai hod yu in_. The elephant still in the room. She didn’t regret saying it, despite all the shit it caused. “We can talk if you like. I know you tried to talk to me last week, and I pushed you off. You can ask your questions now.” She said as she rubbed at the scar on the side of her face.  
“Are you sure? If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”  
“No, it’s fine.”  
“Ok, why did you take the flame?”  
Andes sighed. She knew Clarke wanted to know about the flame. And she knew specifically what she wanted to know about the flame. Lexa. The moment of truth she supposed. She knew she owed Clarke this information. It’s why Clarke carried the flame around for all those months; she knew Lexa was part of the flame.  
“Well, like I said before, there really was no other way, I had to take it. To save you, to save everyone. I guess it was my destiny.”  
“Did someone say the key phrase? Or did it just open up for you like before.”  
“Murphy was there, he was going to say the key phrase, but it wasn’t necessary, it opened. I was lying on my stomach, and the chip opened and it burrowed inside me, into the back of my neck, just like you said. It was extremely painful at first. Like a hot poker into my brain, I thought my head was gonna explode. I actually thought I was going to die, but then, the pain suddenly stopped, and there was a blinding light, my eyes were closed, so the light was in my head I guess. And I was inundated with visions.”  
“Visions? Visions of what?”  
“Clarke, why don’t you just ask the question you’ve been dying to ask since you found out about all this?”  
“What question?”  
“Lexa, isn’t that what this is all about? You want to know if I feel Lexa, if she’s inside me now, if she lives on in me somehow.”  
Clarke knew she wanted that information, but maybe not for the reasons that Andes thought.  
When Clarke didn’t respond, Andes thought she had her answer, Clarke wanted Lexa still, just as Andes had feared. Andes started slowly, “I do feel her, I can see her life, like I’m looking through her eyes and experiencing it. I felt her love for you. She loved you so much Clarke, she really did. I saw her death, I saw you there, and I saw your love for her in your eyes as she died.” And Andes knew that Clarke had never looked at her like that, and maybe never would. And it crushed her, devastated her. She would never be to Clarke what Lexa was. And now that she had the flame, she worried that Clarke somehow thought that Lexa existed inside of her. “But Clarke, some of her memories are here, but she’s not. It’s just me, it’s still just me here.”  
And now Clarke knew the reason for Andes coolness towards her, it was all right there, written all over her face. Since she took the flame, and saw Clarke with Lexa, she felt she didn’t have a chance. She thought she couldn’t compare or compete. Clarke got up and walked back over to Andes. She turned her in her chair, took the pencil out of her hand and laid it on the table. Andes looked up at her with such pain in her eyes, pain and longing, and love, it was still there, Clarke could see it, Andes couldn’t hide it. She climbed onto Andes lap, looked down at her and cupped her hands around her face.  
“It’s just me Clarke, I’m not Lexa.” She said again, as she looked away, staring at the picture Clarke had painted.  
“I know who you are, “she said tenderly, bringing Andes eyes back to her, hoping that Andes could see her feelings.  
And Andes looked up, looked deep into Clarke’s eyes, felt herself drowning, lost at sea again, lost in that damn sea of blue, she reached her arms around Clarke, to keep her in place. “I am in awe of you,” she said to Clarke, all resolve melting away, this love that she couldn’t fight, it was too strong , and now the flame amplified it, if that was even possible.  
Clarke stared down into her eyes, her soft gray eyes, “Andes, my girl from nowhere, I see you, and that’s all I see. I feel you, and that’s all I feel. I want you, and that’s all I want.”  
And as Andes gazed at Clarke, she saw it, she saw that love, that love that she thought was only for one other person, and her eyes filled up, and she pressed her face to Clarke’s chest, the tears flowing freely now. And Clarke held her head, clutching it tightly to her chest, held her while she cried, tears slipping from her own eyes.  
When there were no more tears to shed, Andes pulled her head back and looked up at Clarke, who gently wiped away the wetness on her cheeks. She slowly bent her head down and touched her lips to Andes, softly, “make love to me,” she whispered against her lips. Andes groaned, and captured Clarke’s lips with her own, sweetly and tenderly at first, then deepening, tongues stroking, first in Clarke’s mouth, then in Andes. Andes stood up, still holding Clarke, and carried her into the other room, never breaking their kisses, and laid her gently on the bed. She kneeled on the bed, looked down at her, her heart bursting with love, this is what Clarke talked about all those months ago, this feeling, loving and being loved back. And she was right, there was nothing like it. She was filled with it, filled with Clarke. She pulled her shirt off and tossed it to the side. She had nothing on underneath. Clarke sat up and Andes reached down and lifted her shirt over her head. Clarke removed her bra, now they were both exposed, and they drank each other in. Aching for each other, the ache had never left, after all these months. Clarke noticed a new tattoo, above Andes left breast, close to her heart. It was a “C”, and her eyes filled up. She reached up and touched it, put her lips on it. Then she moved up higher and kissed her scar, gently kissed along the length of it, trailed kisses back down to her chest. Andes wrapped her hands in Clarke’s hair, and held her to her heart for a minute. She cupped Clarke’s face and brought her lips back to hers, pressed her back to the bed. She stood up and removed her shorts and climbed back into bed. She helped Clarke remove her pants and now they were both totally naked. Clarke was on her back, and Andes stretched out next to her, resting on her elbow, so she could look at her, reaching out with her free hand, slowly moving it over every inch of Clarke’s skin. Neither in a hurry this time, Clarke watched Andes as her hand traveled over her body, a slow delicious smile took over her face. She watched every flex of Andes muscles, knowing that she would be able to explore soon, but now, she was enjoying the sensations that Andes was creating with just a light touch of her fingers. How many sleepless nights had she fantasized about this moment over the last few months? Too many to count. How many times did she have to take care of her own needs, standing in the shower, dreaming of gray eyes and hard muscles? Too many times. Finally Andes moved over her, laid her length along Clarke, and Clarke sighed from the pure pleasure of feeling Andes body covering hers. Andes captured her lips now, playing with them, running her tongue over them, sucking on them. Clarke wanted Andes tongue now, and she opened her mouth and felt it slip in, lazily circling with Clarkes’. She felt her wetness dripping out now, she was so damn wet. Andes left Clarke’s mouth to kiss her neck, nip at her pulse beating there on her neck, licking, traveling down to her breasts now. Clarke had her hands on Andes head, there wasn’t much hair to grab anymore, but the rough sensation of the short spiky hair cut was turning her on, she ran her hands around her head, loving the feel of it. She arched her back up, pushing her breasts into Andes mouth, pulling her head closer, she couldn’t get her close enough. When the ache in her nipples was satisfied, she moved Andes head lower, needing her now, wanting her between her legs. Andes slid down, spread Clarke’s legs apart. She rested her head on Clarke’s thigh, looking up at her, with so much love and lust, and Clarke’s heart raced. Andes kept her head there, and slid her fingers inside Clarke, thrusting in, closing her eyes as she listened to the wetness of Clark’s opening. She was always amazed at how wet Clarke would get, nothing turned her on more than feeling that, just feeling that almost always made Andes lose it. And now she needed to taste Clarke, so she moved her head between her legs, her tongue now lapping up the wetness, going inside, as far as she could go, hearing Clarke let out a loud groan. Clarke was at her breaking point now, “please Andes, now, please, I need it now.” Andes moved her tongue up a little higher, her fingers slipping back inside, moving them faster and faster, and her tongue moving in time with her fingers. Clarke breaths were short and loud now, a small moan with each exhale, she stopped, and felt herself on the edge of that cliff, and then it poured out of her, she arched her back up off the bed, hands gripping and pulling at the covers, calling out loudly, almost blacking out with pleasure. Andes licking at her, licking up all the wetness. Clarke’s body, still moving, arching, once again riding that wave that only Andes created. When Andes felt Clarke’s last shudder, she moved up and gathered her in her arms, rolling over onto her back, cradling Clarke, holding her close, not wanting to let her go, her heart so full, she almost cried again.

It took a bit for Clarke to regain her equilibrium. She pressed her lips to Andes chest, listening to her heart beat, thundering inside her chest. Pressed a kiss to the tattoo again. Her heart was full, too. It felt so full for the first time in a long, long time. She knew what she needed now. She got up, kneeling on the bed and looked around, finding Andes wrist bindings next to the bed. She unthreaded the leather strap, and tied her hair back, not too tight, but enough to keep it out of her face. Soft tendrils framed her face now, and Andes could only stare, “I don’t know how it’s possible that you get more beautiful every time I look at you.”

Clarke smiled down at her, thinking the same exact thing as she looked at Andes. “I could say the same.”

“I missed you Clarke, I missed you so much.”

Clarke put her finger to Andes lips, and Andes grabbed it with her teeth, flicked her tongue over it, released it and gave Clarke her wicked smile. Clarke loved that smile, glad to see it again after all this time. She ran her hands over Andes chest and stomach. “Oh,” Andes groaned. “They’ve missed you too Clarke, my abs.” Clarke laughed now, bending down and kissing Andes deeply. She pulled away and looked at Andes again, seeing the old Andes now, the charmer, her eyes sparkling, so sexy looking with her short hair. “Your hair is really turning me on, “she said as she reached out and ran her hands over it, her lip catching in her teeth. Andes closed her eyes and moved her head around in Clarke’s hands. “Is that the only thing turning you on?” she asked playfully. “Hell no,” and Clarke bent down and began kissing Andes shoulder, biting it, not too gently, finding that vein, tracing her tongue down it, down her arm, flicking at her wrist. She took Andes hand, and began to suck on her fingers, one at a time. “Oh my god.” Andes moaned, watching Clarke do it, her tongue licking, her mouth sucking on each one. If she had ever seen anything sexier than this, she couldn’t remember. “Oh my god,” she said again. If she let it, her orgasm would have happened right then. She squeezed her legs together to stop it. Clarke moved to her other side, doing the same thing. “Oh my god, you’re killing me.” Clarke just smiled as she tasted each of Andes fingers on her other hand. Clarke put down Andes hand and reached between her legs, both of them groaning now. She lowered her head and bit Andes hip, nipped at the top of her thighs, her hand continued stroking, fingers going inside, coming back out. Andes was losing control of her hips, as they thrust up to meet Clarke’s fingers. She made her way down Andes leg, biting at her ankle, flicking her tongue between her toes. Holy shit, where was the flame when you needed it? Needed it to put the brakes on her orgasm, because she was seriously about to come. “Clarke, I can’t hold it, “ Clarke moved up and her tongue found her clit, hardened, ready to burst. All it took was a couple strokes and Andes lost control, she couldn’t hold back anymore, stupid flame was no help. Her hips bucking wildly now, out of her control. She cried out, over and over again. When it was done, she thought she died and went to heaven. Her whole body was limp. She couldn’t pick up her arms, she had no strength. Clarke was next to her now, smiling at her. “I can’t move my arms.” Now Clarke was laughing at her. Picking up her arm and watching it flop back on the bed. “I want to hold you, but I literally cannot move my arms.” Clarke nestled in on top of her, nuzzling her neck.

“Must have been a good one.” Clarke said.

“Oh, I think it was, yes, it definitely was.”

“So, I could do anything I want to you right now, you can’t defend yourself.”

“I think you just did anything you wanted, “ she said. “Oh wait, wait, “ She slowly raised a finger off the bed.

“It’s alive,” Clarke said, in an evil voice. Andes started laughing.

“Wanna go again?” Clarke asked.

“Shit yeah, “ Andes strength magically returned now, she flipped Clarke over onto her back. “Have I told you about the recuperative powers of the flame?”  
Clarke just shook her head, “and the staying power, did I mention the staying power.” Kissing her now. Kissing her and pulling back, over and over again, Clarke’s lips reaching for her, wanting to keep her still. Feeling hot all over again, god it happened so quick, getting turned on to the point of madness. Suddenly Andes pulled Clarke up to a sitting position, facing her, both sitting up, Andes pulled Clarke’s legs in, wrapped them around her waist, Clarke was almost in her lap, but not quite, she left just enough room to slip her hand between Clarke’s legs. She took Clarkes hand and put it between her own legs, moving it to her rhythm, both now moving their fingers in and out of each other. Andes started kissing Clarke now, deep, wet, hot kisses, interrupted by an occasional groan from Clarke, who would catch her breath for a second, then come back for more of these kisses. Andes was ready immediately, but she knew Clarke needed a little more time, she would know when she was close, she could tell by her breathing, when her breathing stopped, that’s when Clarke would come, and she wanted to come with her, with her tongue buried in her mouth. Finally Clarke’s breath caught, and Andes let her own orgasm begin, as they both moaned into their kisses, rocking their hips, pressing down on wet fingers.

They rested their heads on each other’s shoulders when they were done. “God, what you do to me.” Andes whispered. They fell back onto the bed now, arms still wrapped around each other, both finally needing a rest. Andes eyes started closing, but she was fighting it.

Clarke watched her and reached out to touch her face, “Go to sleep.” She said with a soft smile.

“I don’t want to.” She said in a sleepy voice, which Clarke found totally adorable.

“Why not?”

“I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone and this would all have been a dream.”

Clarke felt so much at that moment. “I’m not going anywhere, I’m going to be right here, next to you all night long, and when you wake up, you’ll be in my arms, I promise.” Andes smiled, her eyes finally shutting, _“Ai hod yu in,”_ Clarke whispered in her ear.

“I love you too, Clarke.” Was the last thing she mumbled before she fell asleep.

The next morning Andes opened her eyes. She wanted to pinch herself, make sure she wasn’t dreaming again, because she was wrapped up in Clarke’s arms, just as she had promised. She swore she would never move again. She just wanted to remain here, safe in this harbor. She closed her eyes and listened to Clarke’s heart beating. _Ai hod yu in_. Andes remembered and smiled. She lay quietly for quite a while, not wishing to disturb Clarke, but eventually she heard her heart beat quicken, and knew that she was awake. She looked up into sleepy blue eyes. “Good morning Clarke Kom Skaikru.”

She stretched like a contented cat, “why didn’t you wake me?”

“You needed your sleep. I obviously wore you out.”

“Yes, you usually do.” She tightened her arms around her. “I told you I’d still be here when you woke up.”

“Yes, you did. You are a girl who keeps her promises.”

“Promises get us into trouble.”

“Not anymore.”

“Well, I have to break it now, cause I have to go to the bathroom.” Clarke got up out of bed and Andes laid her head where Clarke’s was, inhaling her scent.

 When Clarke came back, Andes was on her stomach, her face buried in Clarke’s pillow, the covers were pulled down a little below her waist, giving Clarke a view of her wonderful back. She crawled back onto the bed, tracing her hand up her back, stopping at another new tattoo, this one of Jaks, on the back of her right shoulder. “This is new too?” Andes nodded, rolled over to look at Clarke. “I miss him.”

“Me too.” Andes said, and she reached out her arms and Clarke went into them.

After a few minutes, Clarke pulled back a little, they were both on their sides facing each other. She reached out and traced the “C” over Andes chest. “You know, it’s dangerous to get a tattoo of someone specific. You never know if you’ll be with them or not.”

Andes smiled at her, her hand running through Clarke’s hair, “I don’t care, you’re my first love, I needed to remember. “ Clarke nodded. “And, I may have been a little drunk when I got it.” Clarke laughed out loud then, she moved in for a kiss, this girl made her laugh like nobody before.

Andes stuck her knee between Clarke's bent legs now, creating some space for her hand to slip down to her favorite spot. She rubbed gently, back and forth, hearing Clarke’s breath catch in her throat, releasing a deep sigh. “Mmm. That feels nice.” The heat rising inside her, molten heat.

Andes raised herself up, moved Clarke gently, moving her sideways on the bed, looking down at her, Clarke looking up at her questioningly, wondering what position this was. “This is a test of concentration,” Andes explained to Clarke.

“What do I have to concentrate on?”

Andes turned and positioned them head to toe, she pulled Clarke's hips to her mouth, and opened her legs to Clarke, “Ooh,” Clarke whispered, turned on by this, she moved her head to the top of Andes legs, spreading Andes with her fingers, tongue starting to explore and Andes tongue doing the same. They licked and sucked each other, fingers moving in rhythm, interrupted by the occasionally moan. Clarke was getting close now, Andes working her magic, she stopped what she was doing, breath coming quickly, searching for that trigger, feeling it now, washing over her, thrusting her hips into Andes mouth, loving this, loving Andes loving her. When she was finished, Andes pulled herself away, leaning on her elbow looking back at Clarke, “you left me hanging there, “ she said playfully.

“Oh, “ Clarke groaned, turning her head, with a guilty look on her face, “I think I lost my concentration,” smiling now, “but it’s not my fault.”

Andes started to crawl up to Clarke now, “not your fault, whose fault is it?”

“It’s yours, of course, “

Andes started laughing now, “oh, it’s my fault you couldn’t finish what you started.”

“Yes, definitely your fault. I can’t help it if you’re good at what you do down there.”

Andes was kneeling next to Clarke now, whose head was almost off the side of the bed. She put her hand behind her neck, and slid her other arm under one of Clarke’s legs and lifted her in the air, playfully dumping her back on the pillows at the top of the bed. Clarke was giggling now, as Andes crawled over her, her arms on either side of Clarke, her knees on either side of her legs. “Let me make it up to you.“

“Oh, how you gonna do that?”

Clarke started running her hands over Andes arms, moving down to her chest, remembering when Andes was beneath her all those months ago, how pleasurable it was, wanting to give that to Andes, so she slid down, positioned herself underneath Andes hips, grasped them and lowered them to her mouth, both of them moaning now, Clarke loving the taste of Andes, Andes rocking her hips against Clarke’s mouth. Andes could barely hold herself up, her arms were shaking with the intense pleasure Clarke was giving her. Clarke’s fingers now inside her, searching for her spot, wanting to touch Andes deep, wanted her to feel that too. Andes moved her hips, helping Clarke find it, “right there Clarke, stay there, oh god, stay there, “ And Andes felt the deep sensation, starting lower, so deep inside, the feeling indescribable, coming on like a tidal wave, crashing on the shore, obliterating her, screaming out Clarke's name, free falling, going on and on until there was nothing left inside. Now her arms gave out and she fell forward onto the bed, rolled onto her side, her eyes filled with tears of joy and pleasure, and love. Clarke came to her and wrapped her arms around her, whispered her love into her ear. Her heart filled to the brim.

“I missed you so much, those months you were gone.” Clarke said softly, moving her finger over Andes face, tracing her new scar, running it across her lips. Andes gave a soft kiss to that finger. “I hated myself for hurting you, hated myself for driving you away. You were the one thing that made me happy, and I drove you away.”

Andes reached up and held a finger to Clarke’s lips “Ssshh, love, it’s ok.” She kissed her gently, and gazed into those blue eyes that she loved so much, twinkling like the night sky. “I never slept with Gomez.”

“I know, Raven told me after you left.”

“Sorry I said that, I just wanted to hurt you. There hasn’t been anybody else, not since that one time with Sara. I think you’ve ruined me, “ she said with a smile.

Clarke rolled on top of her now, “Good, let’s keep it that way.” She cupped Andes face in her hands, kissed her, then pulled back. “I was ready to kill your two little helpers that day after the battle, washing you, touching you.”

Andes started laughing, “I figured. I could see it in your eyes.”

“Ah, I think maybe you should get rid of them, if you don’t want me on the warpath.”

“Done.”

“ _Heda_ , may I come in, “ Indra called from the hallway.

“Uh oh, we’re caught, “ Clarke said.

“ _Sha_ , Indra, enter.” Andes said, her eyes locking with Clarke’s, winking at her.

“Oh my god, “Clarke said as she scrambled under the covers.

Indra entered and walked back to the bedroom area, “ _Heda_ , we need to, oh, my apologies, I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”

“That’s ok, Indra, it’s just Clarke, again.“ And that earned Andes a playful punch in the stomach from under the covers.

Clarke sheepishly peaked her head out from under the blanket, “Good morning, Indra.”

Indra nodded her head, “Clarke.”

“You were saying?” Andes asked.

“You are both needed at the council meeting in about an hour, there’s much to discuss in regards to the clans that were aligned with Azgeda.”

“We will be there, thank you.” Indra nodded slightly and left.

Andes looked at Clarke and started laughing. “You were really red there for a minute.”

“Oh my god, that was so not funny.”

“It was funny.”

“I’ll get you back, when you least expect it.”

“I look forward to it, literally, I will look forward to it, since I’ll see it coming, by looking forward.”

“Weirdo. You are still a fucking weirdo. But, you are my fucking weirdo.” Clarke moved on top of her now, kissing her deeply, eliciting a delicious groan from Andes. Clarke broke off the kiss, knowing that they were expected to be somewhere soon. “I guess we should get up and shower.”

“Yes, we should,” and Andes got out of bed, pulled the covers down off of Clarke, reached out, grabbed her leg and pulled her to the bottom of the bed, picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, Clarke giggling the whole time, “Come woman, you must bathe me, since you’re getting rid of my little helpers.” Clarke playfully punched at Andes back all the way to the bathroom.

They were both showered and dressed now, getting ready to leave for the council meeting. Andes hand rested on the door knob, not opening it yet. Looking at Clarke, feeling more powerful because she was by her side, with Clarke and the flame, she felt they could accomplish wonderful things. Clarke reached up and pulled her down for a quick kiss. “You need to stop looking at me like that, or we’ll never make it out of this room.” She was rewarded with that wicked grin that she loved so much.

Andes opened the door and reached for Clarke’s hand, and that’s how they walked down the hallway and into the council room, hand in hand. Clarke was feeling so much hope, hope and love. Hope for a new world, a new beginning, a new dawn. Andes continuing the work that Lexa started, bringing everyone together in peace. This was happiness. This was worth all the pain and heartache, this moment right now. Clarke searched inside herself, and found that all her demons had been quieted. The darkness that had been inside her soul for so long was illuminated by this girl from nowhere.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone who read this, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm kicking around a modern clexa story, might be posting soon.


End file.
